GLEED, Henry George

Henry George Gleed was 26 years old and working as a farmer when he enlisted at Hamilton Victoria on 18 August 1916. He was the son of Eleanor Jane,' Helena' Gleed, nee Gilding and Richard Thomas Gleed, a grazier of Casterton. George, as he was known, was one of six children, Ada Mary (b.1882), Agnes Rose (b.1893), Eleanor Jane (1894-1960), James Edward (b. 1887) and brother, Richard Thomas (b.1899). By 1916, both parents were dead, Helena in 1912 and Richard in 1915. George gave his as next of kin his sister Ada, living at 88 Albert Street, East Melbourne. 

He went into training at Royal Park,  and was placed in the 13-18 Reinforcements of the 21st  Battalion, sailing from Melbourne on 2 October, 1916, on board HMAT Nestor A 71. They landed at Plymouth on 16 November and underwent further training in England.  George was ill almost immediately and was sent to Fargo Hospital from 2-5 December,  returning to duty on 6 January, 1917. On 15 February, he was sent to France on board SS Victoria from Folkestone, then joined his battalion at the Western Front on 22 February. He had barely served a month when he was wounded in action, with a gunshot wound to his back.  At the time, the 21st battalion was at Vaux and advancing towards Bapaume. George Gleed was evacuated to hospital in Rouen, then transferred to England and admitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital at Reading, where the bullet was finally removed after ten days. 

His medical report reflects the terrible time he had: Wounded on 20/3/17 in back, 2 inches above and internal to inferior angle of scapula. Fractured bone extracted 4/4/17 and wound healed 11/4/17. After two attacks of pain and tenderness in appendicial region in May, was operated on 23/5/17, and a long closely bound down appendix was extracted. 4/6/17 wound broke down and blood and pus discharged. 6/6/17 facial discharge. 15/17/17 Cugh and foul expectoration. Operation. An abcess track runs up from appendicial wound and outwards to tip of 12th rib, to post margin of liver. Drained.

After six months of treatment, he was transferred to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital on 27 September, then granted furlough from 11 - 25 October, 1917. He was declared medically unfit and returned to Australia on the same ship he had embarked on, the HT Runic, leaving England on 7 January, 1918, and arriving in Melbourne on 13 February. He arrived back in Casterton by train on Saturday, 16 February. Here he was greeted by a welcoming crowd, a brass band and a reception at the Mechanicls Hall. The event was recorded by two local papers, the Casterton Free Press recording that 'he had been with the battalion in its struggles all the way from Albert to Bapaume - the names of two places well known to those who studied the war'. The Casterton News wrote that while the 21st battalion was advancing on the village of Vaux, George Gleed was struck by an explosive bullet under his right shoulder. 

He remained in the area of his family home at Balgallah, near Casterton, from 1918 to 1922, working as a labourer. In 1921-22, he moved back to Melbourne, living first in Drummond St., Carlton, then at 179 Gertrude St., Fitzroy South. In both cases, he was working as a clerk. By 1936, he was in Gippsland, at Munro, once again a labourer, but in the 1950s and 1960s, was a farmer/grazier at Eldorado, near Eildon. he appears never to have married. George Gleed died at Eldorado in 1966, aged 76.