Harry Thomas Martyn #7262

Indigenous Australian, Harry Martyn, 15th Infantry Battalion

Harry Thomas Martyn and his brother Charles Martyn enlisted together, volunteering to serve with the first AIF in February 1916. Born in 1897 at Thargomindah to Charles William Martyn (1874-1958) and Rose Sarah Conlon (1883-1956), Harry was initially assigned to the same reinforcements as Charles, but he embarked from Sydney with the 24th Reinforcements for the 15th Infantry Battalion, in January 1917.

Both Harry and Charles served in Belgium in September 1917 in their respective Battalions; Charles was fatally wounded; Harry was evacuated from the field suffering from the effects of 'shell shock'. He returned one month later and again was treated by the field ambulance for the same condition.

Harry continued to take his place in the front lines until June 1918 when he was evacuated to England with trench fever. There he spent several months recuperating; remaining in England until being repatriated home in June 1919.

Read more ...

• Service reocrd: MARTYN, Harry Thomas
• Embarkation roll: 24th Reinf. 15th Infantry Battalion
• One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection
• Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen [oral history & digital story, 12 min, mp4]

The information in this blog post has been researched by State Library staff and volunteers, it is based on available information at this time. If you have more information that you would like to share or further research uncovers new findings, this post will be updated.