HUON, Harold Paul
| Service Numbers: | 905, V61848, V4483 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 September 1914, Sydney, New South Wales. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Kew, Victoria, Australia, 16 June 1890 |
| Home Town: | Huon, Indigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Grazier |
| Died: | Glen Waverley, Victoria , 26 May 1972, aged 81 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Albury Grammar School Honour Roll, Yackandandah Memorial Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 905, 4th Infantry Battalion, Sydney, New South Wales. | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 905, 4th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 905, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 6 Aug 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 905, 4th Infantry Battalion, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli, G.S.W. right arm. | |
| 14 Sep 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 905, 4th Infantry Battalion, Medically unfit. | |
| 19 Feb 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, V61848, Melbourne, Victoria. Home Service. No 11 Australian General Hospital. | |
| 12 Jul 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Corporal, V61848, Acting Corporal. No 11 Australian General Hospital. Discharge at Own Request. |
World War 2 Service
| 18 Jul 1940: | Enlisted V4483, Royal Park, Victoria. | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, V4483 | |
| 14 Jul 1941: | Discharged V4483, Private. HQ 3 Artillery Training Depot, Geelong, Victoria. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Karen Standen
Harold Paul Huon and his older brother, Charles Denbigh Huon, of "Bungoona," were among the first from the Huon district, in northeastern Victoria, to enlist in the A.I.F.. Travelling to Sydney, the pair enlisted at the Randwick racecourse on the 1st September 1914. Allocated consecutive service numbers, Charles 904 and Harold 905, they were assigned to the 4th Battalion, E Company.
The brothers in arms, embarked together, trained in Egypt together and landed on the shores of Gallipoli together. In late May 1915, Charles was evacuated with “a touch of pleurisy”. He wrote to his mother to reassure her he wasn't wounded, and that “Harold was still right as rain”. One can only wonder how reassuring she found his next comment; “I think I told you that he got a shrapnel bullet through the upper lip a week after we landed; it only knocked out a few teeth and came out of his mouth without making a second hole. It was healed in four days, and he was back in the firing-line again, so we have both been very lucky so far.”
Harold’s luck ran out on the first day of the Battle of Lone Pine, when he received a shrapnel wound to his right arm. While recuperating in Cairo, Harold contracted mumps and developed a septic hand. He was invalided home aboard the hospital ship Karoola, arriving in Melbourne in May 1916. The Wodonga and Towong Sentinel reported Harold was, “spending a fortnight with his brother at Huon. Private Huon saw a good deal of fighting at Gallipoli before being shot through the elbow. It is probable that he will receive his discharge in consequence of the wound.” And indeed he did, discharged medically unfit on the 14th September 1916. This however was only his first discharge.
Accompanying his brother Robert Edward Huon, the pair entered the recruiting office in Melbourne on the 19th February 1917. Robert was accepted for overseas service. Harold however, was restricted to Home Service and joined the No 11 Australian General Hospital two days later. Promoted to Acting Corporal in May, Harold submitted a request for discharge shortly afterwards and left the army for a second time on the 12th July 1917.
The family learnt of Charles’ death, a month after he had been killed at the Battle of Broodseinde. Harold placed the following notice in The Argus newspaper on the 22nd November;
HUON.—Officially reported killed in action, in
France, October 4, 1917, Charles Denbigh, ser-
geant-major, 4th Battalion, A.I.F.
"My comrade."
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay
down his life for his friend."
—(Inserted by his loving brother and comrade,
H. P. Huon, late 4th Battalion, A.I.F.)
Between the wars, Harold married and had a family. In July 1940, Harold now fifty years old, enlisted again. He served twelve months in Australia, before discharging from the Victorian Headquarters of the Artillery Training Depot, in Geelong. This war was for the next generation. Harold's son, Charles Denbigh Huon, one of the many to serve their country during World War Two.
WW1 Memorials
Harold and his three siblings are listed on; the entrance to the Yackandandah Shire Soldiers' Memorial Park in Yackandandah, the Kiewa RSL Honour Roll (Yackandandah Shire) and the City of Caulfield Honour Roll (First World War) (North Wall) (Part B).
Karen Standen 2017.