Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Horace was born on 17th March, 1897, the fourth of five children to Margaret ( nee O'Connor & known as Maggie ) and Robert Baker.
Margaret and Robert's second son Edwin died in 1893 aged seven months and the youngest child, Edgar died aged fourteen in 1916, three months before Horace was killed in France.
Horace's mother Margaret died in 1902 when he was only five years old.
In contrast, his father Robert died in 1952 aged ninety, his eldest brother Arthur died in 1976 aged eighty five and his only sister, Irene in 1977 aged eighty three.
His brother Arthur also served in WW1 and was a participant in the Anzac landing at Gallipoli, was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in 1918 and was eventually discharged in October 2019 as a Regimental Sergeant Major after serving for just over five years.
In May 2012, to honour my great uncle Horace and the other Aussie diggers, I undertook a full day tour of the Somme which included Amiens, Le Hamel, Villers-Bretonneux and Pozieres. The current beauty of the countryside was a complete contrast to the conditions they would have endured during their time in the area.
I was certainly brought back to earth though, as we visited the countless cemeteries and memorials, walked through trenches and could see the changed landscape due to artillery damage.
As I had the date Horace died and his unit information, our tour guide was able to show me the exact location at Mouquet Farm where he was killed and where his remains still lay. He informed me that the French and Australian Governments had an agreement that the particular location would remain untouched due to the numerous remains and possible unexploded artillery ammunition. This was an unbelievably amazing and emotional moment as was viewing Horace's name on the Villers-Bretonneux memorial.
The other amazing occurrence was on April 23rd 2017, when channel 7 showed a brief news item as a lead up to Anzac Day. The news clip made reference to the recently discovered ' Silent soldiers of Naours ' an underground cave system in the north of France where many soldiers had inscribed their names 100 years earlier during rest breaks from the war. A couple of examples were shown including an inscription from Horace on the 13th of July 1916, approximately two months before he was killed.