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Nelson-H-2nd-Air-Mechanic-3405

Page history last edited by Lenore Frost 3 years, 5 months ago

Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918

 

Nelson H     2nd Air Mechanic    3405    Harry         AFC    27    Fruiterer    Married    Meth        

Address:    Kensington, McConnell St, 9   

Next of Kin:    Nelson, Florence, Mrs, wife, 20 City Rd, Darlington, Sydney, NSW    

Enlisted:    5 Oct 1917      

Embarked:     RMS Osterley 8 May 1918 (Sydney)

 

Relatives on Active Service:

Nelson S I A Pte 4857 brother

Nelson C Pte 971 brother

Nelson T A Driver 2316 father

Nelson T W G Driver 2287  brother

Cpl F Warne, cousin, enl NSW

 

Date of Death:  22/10/1918

CWGC:  "Son of Thomas and Mary Ellen Nelson, husband of Florence Nelson, of 345, Abercrombie St., Redfern, Sydney, New South Wales. Born at Sydney".

AYLESBURY CEMETERY 

 

Second Air Mechanic Harry (Henry Bramwell Barrington) Nelson

 

Rod Martin

 

This is a sad story, not only for the fact that Harry Nelson died young in England, but also because of the events that occurred here in Australia after his death and which involved his wife and infant son in particular.  It would appear that Harry did his best to provide for his family before he enlisted and travelled overseas, but things went awry once his family investigated his will and property after his death.

 

Harry Nelson - as he like to be called - was a fruiterer by trade and, at the time he enlisted on 5 October 1917, single and living with his parents at 9 McConnell Street in Kensington.

 

Reproduced with permission from Rendina Real Estate

 

He was a short man, only 166 centimetres in height, but he was wiry and tough and had been a world record holder in 100-mile competition cycling.  He was also a very good foot-runner.

 

It is apparent that, between the time when he enlisted and the date of his departure from Australia, Harry married Florence, a girl from Sydney, and moved there.  It would appear that Florence was pregnant before the marriage, as documentation indicates that their baby son was six weeks old by the time Harry departed from Sydney on RMS Osterley on 8 May 1918.

 

RMS Osterley leaving Port Melbourne, February 1917   (AWM PB0793)

 

Upon embarking and probably because of his age, Harry had been appointed as an acting lance-corporal.  He held this rank until 14 July, when he reverted to the rank of second air mechanic.  No reason for this reversion is listed in his war record.

 

The Osterley arrived at Liverpool on 10 July 1918 and Harry was transported to Halefield Camp, Buckinghamshire, not far from the town of Wendover.  Halefield Camp was no ordinary military establishment.  It was an isolation camp, specifically established to isolate military personnel who were believed to have infectious diseases.  It was 1918, the first year of the Spanish Flu pandemic.  It is likely that Harry was diagnosed with some form of flu while still on the ship, and he was quickly moved to Halefield on landing, arriving there on 14 July.

 

Four Australian air mechanics enjoying lunch at Halefield, June 1918   (AWM P10218.009) 

Four days later, however, Harry was classified as ‘sick’ and transferred to a carrier centre at Saunderton, not far from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.  He was obviously considered to be infectious and needed to be isolated from other military personnel.

 

Harry stayed at the centre until 23 August.  It would seem that he was judged to be cured of his illness as he transferred to the Australian Flying Corps depot at Wendover on that date.  Presumably, he then began his work as an air mechanic.

 

A Handley Page bomber at Wendover, June 1918.         (AWM D0006)

 

Harry’s resumption of good health was not to last, however.  On 15 October he was admitted to Aylesbury Military Hospital, classified as ‘seriously ill’.  The diagnosis was "influenzal pneumonia".  Whether this was a relapse of his earlier infection is not known but, if not, it seems likely that that infection weakened his immune system and made him more susceptible to the later one, which may have been Spanish Flu. We’ll never know.

 

Harry died on 22 October 1918 in Aylesbury Hospital.  He was buried in Tring Road Cemetery, Aylesbury, aged twenty-eight.

 

(Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

 

As indicated earlier, however, Harry’s death did not mark the end of his war storyHis war record contains copies of a number of letters written to the officer in charge of base records at the war department, most written by Harry’s widow, Florence, but also a small number written by Mr. Henry Lee, the solicitor employed by Harry to construct his will and ensure that its provisions would be carried out in the event of Harry’s death.  The letters indicate a sad tale, possibly involving deception by Harry’s brother and mother and collusion with them by Mr. Lee.  However, all of this is open to question, as it was Florence who made the claims, without providing any substantive evidence to support them.  Whether Florence attempted to take the issues she raised through the legal system and gained some compensation is unknown.

 

In late February 1919, Florence wrote to base records, enquiring about the whereabouts of Harry’s kit, which she expected to receive once it had been returned from England.  In a later letter, she noted that she had received a reply that indicated that the kit had not arrived back in Australia at that time.  On 22 July, she enquired again, noting that the kit included a signet ring and a watch that her family had given Harry (the documentation proves that those items were in the kit).  She noted that she wanted to pass the items on to her young son Henry as keepsakes from his father.  Base records replied that, in accordance with Harry’s will, the kit was passed to his executor - his brother Carl.  The will also stated that the residue of Harry’s estate was to be divided equally between Florence and Harry’s mother.

 

Thus began a rather sordid process, if we are to believe Florence.  The bottom line is that none of the possessions in the kit was passed on to Florence.  Solicitor Lee, acting on the claim by Carl that the items in the kit were worthless and thus should not be considered part of the estate, then passed it on to Carl, rather than forwarding it to Florence, who was Harry’s next of kin. 

 

Furthermore, Carl and his mother claimed that there was no sign of the watch, the chain (although Florence claimed that she had seen Carl wearing it while on a trip to Sydney) or other items such as a teapot and a piano that, according to Florence, Harry informed her he had left in his mother’s care while he was overseas. When asked about them, the mother said that she could not account for any of them.  What was worse, Harry had purchased some land in 1917 and had paid a number of instalments on it.  However, he had not mentioned it in his will and, as of 1924, Florence claimed that she had not received any form of compensation for it.  Mr. Lee does seem to just accept the statements made by Carl and his mother, including one claiming that Harry was a poor money manager and had pawned his gold medal and other items before he got married (Florence’s statement in a letter in July 1920 of Harry’s banking details for 1915 at the time of the land purchase would, if correct, seem to suggest that he was a quite careful accountant with regard to his financial situation).  Lee’s responses led to Florence claiming that he was working for Carl and his mother, instead of herself and, using other words, she basically called him a liar.

 

The war department, of course, could and would do nothing about Florence’s claims. Indeed, in July 1920, the officer in charge of base records advised her of the need to take civil action against Carl to recover the effects and monies that she believed were owing to her.  She apparently tried to do so, as a hand-written copy of a letter written by Mr. Lee in June 1920 to the Melbourne law firm of Frank Brennan and Rundle basically refuted claims that Florence had clearly made to that company.

 

Sadly, there is no conclusion to this tale.  Whether Florence saw anything from Harry’s estate is open to question.  Mr. Lee did advise her to visit her mother-in-law, taking her infant son along with her.  Perhaps he was hoping that, if there was any truth to Florence’s claims, the mother would be touched by the sight of her grandson and do what she could to give Florence and the child the things that rightly and morally belonged to them.  However, in Florence’s words,

 

I did so and she refused to see me so you can judge if she intends giving my child & I our rights.  Miss Nelson told me her mother could not see me & anything I had to say. Tell Mr. Lee.

 

There was obviously no love lost there!

 

The story of Florence and her child does not end as badly as it could have.  Despite receiving no compensation from the Nelson family in all probability, she married again in September 1922 to a man named Stanley Smith, a returned serviceman if the evidence of a war pension granted to her (and subsequently cancelled in September 1924) is to be believed.  We can hope that her life, and that of her son, Henry, were positive from that time on.  The thought of a war widow and child left basically penniless and property-less because of the selfish deeds of her husband’s family is not a nice one to contemplate.

 

Sources

 

Australian War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

http://www.adb.anu.edu.au

http://www.ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com

https://aif.adfa.edu.au

National Archives of Australia

Rendina real Estate Kensington

 

Harry Nelson, fruiterer, of 9 McConnell street, Kensington, who is a prominent cyclist, enlisted on Tuesday. His father and three brothers are already serving. The father is Driver Thomas Nelson, and his brothers are Sergeant Charles (sic) Nelson and Drivers S. and Thomas Nelson.

 

ROLL OF HONOUR. (1917, October 11). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 3 Edition: Morning. Retrieved May 25, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74603975

 

Pte. H Nelson, son of Mrs. T. A. Nelson, 9 McConnell street, Kensington, died of pneumonia in England. He was a well known cyclist, and several years ago broke the world's record in a 100 mile contest. He enlisted in the Australian Flying Corps. His father, Sergt. T. A. Nelson, an Anzac, and two brothers, Sergt. S. and Driver Sid. Nelson, are still on active service. Two other Anzac brothers, Sergt. T. W. G. and Sergt. C. F. S. Nelson, have returned home invalided.

 

ROLL OF HONOR. (1918, December 12). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 3 Edition: Morning. Retrieved September 4, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74607829

 

Date of Death:  22/10/1918

CWGC:  "Son of Thomas and Mary Ellen Nelson, husband of Florence Nelson, of 345, Abercrombie St., Redfern, Sydney, New South Wales. Born at Sydney".

AYLESBURY CEMETERY

 

Mentioned in this publication:

WW1 Soldiers and Nurses Who Rest in the United Kingdom. - Aylesbury Cemetery

 

War Service Commemorated

Kensington Methodist Church  [HB]*  

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