STOCKS, Harold Burnett
| Service Number: | 757 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd ANZAC Cyclist Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Dec 1916: | Involvement Private, 757, 2nd ANZAC Cyclist Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Dec 1916: | Embarked Private, 757, 2nd ANZAC Cyclist Battalion, HMAT Medic, Melbourne |
His fall from a wheat stack meant he never made it to France
Harold Burnett Stocks
Harold Burnett Stocks was born on 23 June 1888 in Grahamstown, South Africa, the son of William Burnett Stocks (1851-1920) and Bertha Sarah Stocks. At the age of 28, he enlisted at Ballarat, Victoria, on 21 October 1916. Before enlistment, he worked as a labourer. He had previously attempted to enlist but was found to be medically unfit. He finally embarked with the 7th Reinforcements, Anzac Cyclist Battalion, aboard HMAT A7 Medic on 16 December 1916.
The Medic arrived in Plymouth on 18 February 1917. Stocks was sent immediately to No. 7 Camp, Australian Details, at Perham Downs. On 3 April 1917, he was transferred to the 4th Training Battalion at Codford. However, four days later, he was admitted to hospital suffering from neuralgia. In 1915, Stocks suffered a head injury when he fell from a wheat stack while working in Horsham, Victoria. This accident caused neuralgia for eight months, and the voyage to England had triggered a recurrence of the symptoms, which included a sharp pain originating from his left eyebrow and coursing through his head.
While at Codford, Stocks went Absent Without Leave (AWOL) from 24 May 1917 until 1 June 1917, for which he received 10 days Field Punishment No. 2 and forfeited 18 days’ pay. This was not Stocks’ first run-in with military authority. He had previously been found guilty of using threatening and obscene language towards an NCO during the voyage to England and had served 48 hours’ detention.
Stocks did not recover from his neuralgia. By February 1917, his medical records noted that he was suffering from "sharp pains in the supra-orbital region, much worse in cold weather." Medical staff operated on him on 19 June 1917 in an attempt to relieve the pain. Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful, and the pain continued, aggravated by the climate and military service. On 10 September 1917, he was admitted to the Australia and New Zealand No. 3 Hospital, still suffering from continuous pain. The condition had become so debilitating that he was returned to Australia on 31 October 1917 aboard HMAT A35 Berrima. He was discharged from the AIF in Melbourne on 1 February 1918. Having never made it to France, his only service entitlement was the British War Medal.
Post-war, Stocks moved frequently. He initially lived in Dromana, Victoria, during the 1920s and then in Richmond in the early 1930s. He married later in life, marrying Annie Campbell MacCormack in 1945. The couple eventually settled in Lorne before moving to Birregurra, near Colac, where Stocks lived until his death at the age of 78 in 1966.
Submitted 29 September 2024 by Tim Barnett