PAUL, Henry Keating Brook (1891-1971)
PAUL, Henry Keating Brook (1891-1971)
Henry Keating Brook Paul was born on 8 December 1891 at Queenscliff, Victoria, the son of Sergeant Major John Keating Paul and Mrs Norah nee Ryan.
Listing his address as The Fort, Queenscliff, Henry was enrolled at Geelong College in 1906, leaving in 1909. His WW I attestation papers noted that he had been in the school cadets from 1905-1909.
He later attended Gordon Technical College, Geelong. He spent four years with 3rd Battalion Senior Cadets, and two years as a Provisional Lieutenant, being appointed OC H Company in 1912. He served with 66th Infantry Battalion (Militia) before he enlisted on 31 March 1915 during World War I, and embarked in Adelaide with B Company, 27 Battalion (7th Infantry Brigade) on 31 May on HMAT A2 Geelong. He was a Bank Clerk before the war.
Brook served on Gallipoli from 3 September until 4 November 1915, then proceeded to England with his battalion. While on service in France he was medically boarded ‘unfit for infantry, due to flat feet but is capable of performing any mounted duties’ and posted to AIF Depots in England. He returned to Australia on HMT Nestor, embarking on 1st November 1919.
The 27th Battalion was raised in South Australia in March, from recruits previously earmarked for 24 Battalion, a large number of whom came from the suburbs of Adelaide. The Battalion left Australia in June and, after two months spent training in Egypt, landed at Gallipoli on 12 September. At Gallipoli, the 7th Brigade, which included 27 Battalion, reinforced the weary New Zealand and Australian Division. The 27th had a relatively quiet time at Gallipoli and the battalion departed the Peninsula in December, having suffered only light casualties. After another stint in Egypt, the 7th Brigade proceeded to France as part of the 2nd Australian Division.
The 27th Battalion entered the front-line trenches for the first time on 7 April 1916 and took part in its first major battle at Pozières between 28 July and 5 August. After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the 2nd Division returned to the south in October. The Battalion took part in two attacks to the east of Flers in the Somme Valley, both of which floundered in the mud. Although it participated in minor attacks during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in early 1917, 27 Battalion did not carry out a major attack again until 20 September 1917. On this occasion, it was part of the 2nd Division’s first wave at the Battle of Menin Road. Victory here was followed up with the capture of Broodseinde Ridge on 4 October, in which 27 Battalion also played a role. Like most AIF battalions, the 27th fought to turn back the German spring offensive in April 1918, and later in the year participated in a string of offensive battles as Germany was pushed ever closer to defeat. It attacked around Morlancourt on the night of 10 June; acted in a supporting role during the Battle of Hamel on 4 July; and was in the first wave at the Battle of Amiens on 8 August. On 8 August, the battalion captured nine artillery pieces, twenty-five machine guns and over two hundred prisoners. The battalion’s last actions of the war were fought as part of the effort to break through the Beaurevoir Line in the first week of October 1918, but it was not disbanded until 4 June 1919.
Brook died at the Repatriation Hospital, Sydney on 10 September 1971.
Brook’s younger brother, Lieutenant John Charles Paul (1893-1915) was killed on the day of the Gallipoli Landing, his name is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Anzac.
Henry Keating Brook Paul was born on 8 December 1891 at Queenscliff, Victoria, the son of Sergeant Major John Keating Paul and Mrs Norah nee Ryan.
Listing his address as The Fort, Queenscliff, Henry was enrolled at Geelong College in 1906, leaving in 1909. His WW I attestation papers noted that he had been in the school cadets from 1905-1909.
He later attended Gordon Technical College, Geelong. He spent four years with 3rd Battalion Senior Cadets, and two years as a Provisional Lieutenant, being appointed OC H Company in 1912. He served with 66th Infantry Battalion (Militia) before he enlisted on 31 March 1915 during World War I, and embarked in Adelaide with B Company, 27 Battalion (7th Infantry Brigade) on 31 May on HMAT A2 Geelong. He was a Bank Clerk before the war.
Brook served on Gallipoli from 3 September until 4 November 1915, then proceeded to England with his battalion. While on service in France he was medically boarded ‘unfit for infantry, due to flat feet but is capable of performing any mounted duties’ and posted to AIF Depots in England. He returned to Australia on HMT Nestor, embarking on 1st November 1919.
The 27th Battalion was raised in South Australia in March, from recruits previously earmarked for 24 Battalion, a large number of whom came from the suburbs of Adelaide. The Battalion left Australia in June and, after two months spent training in Egypt, landed at Gallipoli on 12 September. At Gallipoli, the 7th Brigade, which included 27 Battalion, reinforced the weary New Zealand and Australian Division. The 27th had a relatively quiet time at Gallipoli and the battalion departed the Peninsula in December, having suffered only light casualties. After another stint in Egypt, the 7th Brigade proceeded to France as part of the 2nd Australian Division.
The 27th Battalion entered the front-line trenches for the first time on 7 April 1916 and took part in its first major battle at Pozières between 28 July and 5 August. After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the 2nd Division returned to the south in October. The Battalion took part in two attacks to the east of Flers in the Somme Valley, both of which floundered in the mud. Although it participated in minor attacks during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in early 1917, 27 Battalion did not carry out a major attack again until 20 September 1917. On this occasion, it was part of the 2nd Division’s first wave at the Battle of Menin Road. Victory here was followed up with the capture of Broodseinde Ridge on 4 October, in which 27 Battalion also played a role. Like most AIF battalions, the 27th fought to turn back the German spring offensive in April 1918, and later in the year participated in a string of offensive battles as Germany was pushed ever closer to defeat. It attacked around Morlancourt on the night of 10 June; acted in a supporting role during the Battle of Hamel on 4 July; and was in the first wave at the Battle of Amiens on 8 August. On 8 August, the battalion captured nine artillery pieces, twenty-five machine guns and over two hundred prisoners. The battalion’s last actions of the war were fought as part of the effort to break through the Beaurevoir Line in the first week of October 1918, but it was not disbanded until 4 June 1919.
Brook died at the Repatriation Hospital, Sydney on 10 September 1971.
Brook’s younger brother, Lieutenant John Charles Paul (1893-1915) was killed on the day of the Gallipoli Landing, his name is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Anzac.
Source
Based on an edited extract from Geelong Collegians at the Great War compiled by James Affleck. p 281-282 (citing Pegasus; Australian War Memorial; National Archives).