SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s
Name
Rank
Service Number
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
Henry William Petersen
Private
2240
47th Battalion
Date of Birth
22 November 1891
Place of Birth
Toowoomba, Queensland
Family Details
Age at Enlistment
Place of Enlistment
Siblings: Gustav Adolf (Dolf) Petersen, Herbert Petersen, Elfeda Newton, Edith Jurgs, Stanley
Petersen, Ivy Bellingham, Violet Petersen, Beryl Petersen, Vera Petersen, Lesley Petersen,
Irene (Ninie) Matthews, Evelyn (Evie) Ranger and Alsa (Dolly) Becker.
Father: Lars Petersen - Denmark
Mother: Caroline Petersen – Prussia
23
Emerald, Central Queensland
Date of Death
28 September 1992
Place of Death
Toowoomba, Queensland
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Grave or Memorial
Number
Garden of Remembrance, Toowoomba, QLD
Not applicable
PHOTO:
SOLDIER’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared By Benita Becker
Henry William Petersen, my great, great uncle, was born in Toowoomba, Queensland in 1891.
Uncle Henry had 14 siblings; Dolf, Herbert, Elfeda, Edith, Stanley, Ivy, Violet, Beryl, Vera, Lesley, Ninie, Evi
and my great grandma, Dolly. His father was from Denmark and his mother from Prussia; allowing him to
speak German and Danish. Henry worked on farms as a stockman near central Queensland.
As the First World War came around, Henry attempted to enlist within Toowoomba; however, due to the
recent surgery on his appendix, was denied. He then travelled to Emerald in Central Queensland, where he
worked on a property, enlisted there and was accepted.
On 20 September 1915, Uncle Henry left Australia for Egypt. In Egypt, he was placed into the 47th Battalion
of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). This unit acted as reinforcements for the 15th Battalion, the Anzacs.
‘The new battalion was composed mostly of men recruited in Queensland and Tasmania and was
incorporated into the 12th Brigade of the Australian Division’ (Australian War Memorial).
The 47th Battalion arrived in France on 9 June 1916 and entered the trenches of the Western Front. From
then, they fought in many battles; at Pozieres, Bullecourt, Messines, Passchendaele and Dernancourt
(Australian War Memorial). However, Henry was captured at the battle of Bullecourt in 1917.
Uncle Henry wrote in the 47th Battalion Debrief, what occurred in the battle of Bullecourt. He stated: ‘I
noticed an Australian who has been badly wounded in the head, and with the assistance of two comrades, I
removed him to the shelter of the dug-out. We had not entirely placed the wounded man in safety when
German bombers appeared at the mouth of the dug-out and ordered us up. We had to come up and we
became prisoners of war.’
He was taken to the prisoner of war camp in Brebières. Back home, Caroline (Uncle Henry’s mother)
received a telegram stating that he was missing in action and presumed dead. At the camp, he spent most
of his time doing road-work, loading clothes and shells, grave-digging, cleaning bricks off the streets and
filling shell holes. However, on 13 May, he ‘commenced his job as an interpreter’, as stated in his diary. This
job consisted of translating for the Germans with the prisoners and the wounded - he did this until 8 June
1917.
On 9 June, Uncle Henry was shifted to Orchies in Northern France where he worked multiple jobs, such as:
unloading timber, ground-levelling, farm work, fencing, carting water, cutting wood and shifting poles.
He was then shifted to Nomain where he further acted as an interpreter to the sick. He continued this job
for 6 months, until 15 November 1917, when he was transported to Marchiennes.
At Marchiennes he studied German to further help the sick and wounded with translation. While he was at
Marchiennes, he wrote the following excerpt in his diary:
‘Christmas.
A lovely night – star shine and a few inches of
Pure white snow on the ground.
Beautiful’.
In the new year of 1918, Uncle Henry was moved to Gustrow, Rostock in Germany where he worked in a
sugar factory. He was treated well here, as he states in his diary, ‘The buildings seem to be very good and
the meals are very good compared to what we are used to. If this continues, we shall be well off’. Within
the factory he unloaded and shovelled beet, shunted trucks back and forth, took sulphur to the ‘room in
the sky’, shovelled snow off the railway and examined machinery. He further worked as an interpreter for
the employees getting paid.
Uncle Henry continued his factory work, however in a different factory in Bremen, Germany. He stated that
his work here was ‘cutting barrel lengths with the double-circular saw’. He was also treated well here as he
states that ‘if his appetite doesn’t increase there will be easily sufficient food’. He worked at Bremen until
the armistice was signed, signifying the end of the war.
Upon release, he received a handwritten letter from King George. It states: ‘The Queen joins me in
welcoming you on your release from the misery and hardship which you have endured with so much
patience and courage. We are thankful that this longed for day has arrived and that back in the old country
you will be able once more to enjoy the happiness of a home and to see good days among those who
anxiously look for your return’.
Whilst returning home, Henry was offered to study at a university in England which he did until the end of
1919.
Uncle Henry returned home to Australia at the age of 26. He continued living in Toowoomba, made daily
trips to his farm, however, he never married. Uncle Henry received three medals; the 1914-15 Star, the
British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Despite a few close incidents, Uncle Henry lived to be 100 years
and 11 months old.
A local newspaper, the Downs Star, wrote an article when he turned 100 on 27 November 1991. It
explained:
‘Henry celebrates his 100th birthday. At a private party held in Toowoomba, at the weekend he was
surrounded by friends and family….. Mr Petersen was born at Gowrie Little Plains, worked as a stockman
the length and breadth of Queensland, joined the army in 1915; was part of the second wave at Gallipoli
which was not committed to battle; and was captured while fighting in France with the 47 th Battalion being
imprisoned until the war ended. He returned to live in the area where he was born, and remains active and
in sound health making daily visits to his farm on Hume Street’.
At the back of his diary, this poem is inscribed:
In spite of all this toil and strife
In spite of all our grief
It’s but an incident in life
Of one great book, a leap
In time to come the Life and Light
Of this great universe
Will let us see that all got Light
And not from bad to worse.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
National Archives of Australia, 26/11/14, http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scrits/Imagine.asp?B=8015499.
Medals – World War I, ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Qld) Incorporated 2001,
http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/medals/general/ww1.html
Australian War Memorial, First Battle of Bullecourt, http://www.awm.gov.au/military-event/E110/
Australian War Memorial, 47th Australian Infantry Battalion, http://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51487/