The AIF Project

Henry DARLINGTON

Regimental number3294
Place of birthPicton, New South Wales
SchoolPicton Public School, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationCook
AddressGilgandra, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation28
Height5' 0"
Weight116 lbs
Next of kinFather, Alfred Darlington, Campbell Street, Picton, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil (previously rejected on three occasions due to height)
Enlistment date28 May 1917
Place of enlistmentGilgandra, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name36th Battalion, 8th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/53/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A28 Miltiades on 2 August 1917
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll33rd Battalion
FateKilled in Action 7 May 1918
Age at death31
Age at death from cemetery records29
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
122
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Alfred and Mary DARLINGTON. Born at Picton, New South Wales
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 2 August 1917; disembarked Glasgow, Scotland, 2 October 1917; marched into 9th Training Bn, 3 October 1917.

Proceeded overseas to France, 6 March 1918; marched into Australian Intermediate Base Depot, Le Havre, 7 March 1918.

Proceeded to unit, 8 March 1918.

Marched into Australian Intermediate Base Depot, 22 March 1918, under escort.

Proceeded to unit, 29 March 1918; taken on strength of 36th Bn, in the field, 6 April 1918.

Transferred to, and taken on strength of 33rd Bn, 30 April 1918.

Posted as missing in action, 7 May 1918.

Court of Enquiry, France, 23 February 1919, pronounces fate as 'Killed in Action, 7 May 1918'.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DARLINGTON Henry

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