Above: John Henry CROMPTON in his Australian army uniform Scarborough c.1917 Click on the image to open a larger portrait in a new window

Above: The Rising Sun of the Australian Imperial Force	Above: The shoulder colour patch of 42nd Battalion, AIF

© 2003-2020 RG Crompton. Email me at ...

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Contents

		His early life at Lowthorpe, East Yorkshire and his early travels			Ypres and the approach march on 25 September - 3 October 1917
		Homesteading in Alberta			'It was a great battle ...' 4 October 1917 The remains of Zonnebeke Station and Alma Forest - 11 October 1917
		'I did nothing very great in Australia' His letter to Alberta, 31 July 1916			'He is not missing ... ' The Menin Gate, Lowthorpe in East Yorkshire, Wainwright in Alberta and Caboolture in Queensland
	DYSENTERY DIARRHOEA ENTERITIS furlough	His enlistment, embarkation and service record		We regret to inform you that the above is now reported killed in action.	Postscript The records of the Australian Red Cross and Australian War Memorial
		Training at Larkhill Camp and on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire			Identifying the dead The work of the Department of Graves Registration and Enquiries (DGRE)
		'Now all roads lead to France' Edward Thomas 1878-1917			Was it all worth while? Controversy

Photograph

The photograph, of an 'unknown' relative, was found in the family collection of Sheila Mellstrom, John Henry's great niece. It was immediately recognised as John Henry in his uniform of the 3^rd Division, Australian Imperial Force. The slouched hat, which originated in Egypt, with the AIF hat badge front and centre was the mark of Major General John Monash's newly formed 3^rd Division. She very kindly gave me the original, which has been introduced to Maj.Gen Michael Jeffrey AC, CVO, MC who in 2007 was the Governor General of Australia and Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Double click on the image for an A5 copy in a new window.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are extended to:

• Flanders Battlefield Tours - Ypres (Accessed 19 December 2017) for going out of their way to find Alma Farm in 1999.
• Ted Harris who organised the 42nd Battalion AIF web site and who has made available 'The Spirit of the Forty-Second' on the web.
• Madame Emiel Vanlerberghe of Brigadehof Alma, Albertstraat 22, Zonnebeke, the owner of Alma Farm in 2007, who showed me great kindness by allowing me to wander over the land that John Henry fought for. She also donated copies of photographs of the farm in the 1920s.
• Diane Carl of Bashaw, Alberta, whose father farmed John Henry's section and who researched John Henry in Alberta. Her grandfather, Alex Postans, kept 'Jacks' letters and photographs.

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References

• Bean CW,  'The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18, Vol. IV, AIF in France 1917', Angus & Robertson, Sydney, Chapter XX Third step – Broodseinde, 1933, pp 833
• Bostyn, Franky, 'Passchendaele 1917, the story of the fallen and Tyne Cot Cemetery', Pen and Sword Military, Barnsley, 2007
• Brahms Vivian, 1938, 'The Spirit of the Forty-Second: narrative of the 42nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division, Australian Imperial Forces, during the Great War, 1914-1918‘, Brisbane: W.R. Smith and Paterson (printers), Published for the 42nd Battalion AIF Association. Reprinted Naval and Military Press, Uckfield, 2010
• Cave, N, 'Passchendaele: The Fight for the Village', Leo Cooper/Pen and Sword Books, London, 1997
• Evans, Martin Marix, 'Passchendaele The hollow victory', Pen and Sword, Barnsley, 2005
• Forecast Books of Colonel E Gold, Meteorologist to the BEF, Meteorological Office, Bracknell
• Green FC, 'The Fortieth - a record of the 40^th Battalion, A.I.F.' , Naval and Military Press, Uckfield, 2007 (Reprint)
• Hart, Robin B, AM, 'Visit to the Battlefields', Published privately, 2007
• Imperial War Museum, Photographic Archives, London
• Keow, AW, ‘Forward with the Fifth’, Naval and Military Press, Uckfield, East Sussex, Reprinted 2009
• Longmore, Captain Cyril, ‘Eggs-a-Cook the story of the Forty-Fourth, War – as the Diggers fought it’, Colortype Press, Perth, 1921 Reprinted: Naval and Military, Uckfield, Sussex, 2010
• Lloyd, Nick, Passchendaele, a new history, Penguin, 2017
• MacDonald Lyn, 1978, 'They Called it Passchendaele' - Battle for Broodseinde Ridge - 4 October 1917', Michael Joseph, London
• MacGibbon, Frederick William, ‘The Forty-First being a record of the 41st AIF during the Great War’, Australian Commonwealth Military Forces, 1919 Reprinted: Naval and Military, Uckfield, Sussex 2010
• Mallett, Ross, The Third Division Order of Battle, including 42nd Battalion Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) (Accessed 19 December 2017)
• McCarthy C, 1995, 'Passchendaele: The day-by-day account', Arms and Armour, London
• Read P, 1999, 'Walking the Salient', Leo Cooper/Pen and Sword Books, London
• Steel, Nigel and Hart, Peter, 'Passchendaele the sacrificial ground', Cassell, London, 2000
• 'Trench Map 28NE1 D22a 2. 4 October 1917', WO297/718, The National Archives, Kew, London
• '11th Brigade War Diaries', WO 95/3425, The National Archives, Kew, London
• '42nd Battalion War Diary October 1917', Australian War Memorial AWM4 23/59/12 (With thanks to Grey Lynch of Canberra, whose great uncle 2nd.Lt. James Patrick Kelly-Healey, of ‘D’ Company, 42nd Battalion, was Killed in Action 4 October 1917 on the reverse slope of Hill 40 and is remembered on the Menin Gate.

This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass		Version A20 Updated 09 August 2020