Henry Lloyd #5597

Indigenous Australian, Henry LLOYD, 17th Infantry Battalion

Henry Lloyd was born in Brisbane in 1875. He volunteered to serve with the first AIF in March 1916, age 41. At the time of his enlistment he was working as a labourer on Collingwood Station, Murrumburrah in NSW, and with no living relatives he named the manager of the station, Thomas Murphy as his next of kin.

Lloyd was sent to the Army Camp at Cootamundra Show grounds where he was ear-marked for the infantry and transferred to Holsworthy Training Camp at Liverpool.

Lloyd was assigned to the 15th Reinforcements for the 17th Infantry Battalion, and embarked on HMAT Euripides from Sydney in September 1916, arriving in England late October.

After training in England, he sailed from Folkestone in the SS Golden Eagle to the Depot Base at Etaples, France. It was at this point that Harry Lloyd’s health deteriorated.

He was admitted to hospital in France in February 1917 the condition being described as due to “age and debility” but no other indication of  incapacity was given. Still unwell he was returned to England for treatment and admitted to the Edmonton Military Hospital, but by July 1917 he had been assessed and slated for return to Australia for “change”.

Henry Lloyd was returned home to Australia in September 1917 and medically discharged.

Read more ...

• SERVICE RECORD: LLOYD, Henry
• EMBARKATION ROLL: 17th Infantry Battalion
• 'A.I.F. Aborigines: N.S.W.' Reveille, 31 January 1932, p.20
• One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection
• Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen [oral history]

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.