War diary of Captain Harold Emanuel Collins
Номер объектаM2008/055
НазваниеWar diary of Captain Harold Emanuel Collins
Создатель Harold Collins (author)
Описание"Army Book 136" used as a diary by Captain H.E. (Harold Emanuel) Collins (of Bondi), of the Australian Flying Corps in WWI. He records flights, accidents and pilots missing or dead from October 1917 to July 1918. The diary was primarily complied in France.
Harold Emanuel Collins was born in 1892 in Paddington, NSW. He enlisted at the age of 22 in the AIF on 15 August 1914, one of approximately 1,800 Jewish soldiers to enlist in the Australian military. We don’t know what motivated him to enlist in the First World War. His family suspects it was to escape his alcoholic father combined with a desire for adventure. As one of 10 children, he started work at age 13 to support his family and throughout his service he sent his pay home to his mother.
He was allocated Regimental Number 619 and was posted to the 1st Field Ambulance Reinforcement 1, which embarked from Melbourne on board the HMAT Berrima on 22 December 1914 for training in Suez, Egypt. Collins was amongst the first wave of Australian servicemen landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. He spoke extensively of his experiences at Gallipoli; these memories became a feature of the family's Friday night dinners. He wanted an accurate account of what life was like during the war and did not shy away from recording horrific experiences and incidences in his diary.
Two weeks prior to the evacuation, Collins suffered a hernia and was evacuated to a hospital in Cairo. One can imagine the toll the months on the peninsula had on his body. While recuperating from injury, Collins enlisted in the Australia Flying Corps (predecessor of the Royal Australian Air Force) and was sent to the Western Front where he served for the remainder of the war. After the Armistice on 11 November 1918, he was seconded to the Accounts Department of the British Army, returning to Australia in October 1919.
Collins was awarded numerous decorations - the Meritorious Service Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and ANZAC Medal, Somme Medal, the Albert Medal and the Croix du combattant de l'Europe. Aside from his diary, he also took photographs which reveal his artistry and skill. He documented scenes of military and civilian life with the keen eye of a photo journalist, capturing a personal picture of the infrastructure of warfare, everyday life on the battlefield and his foreign surroundings.
Collins was a founding member of NAJEX (NSW Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women). Harold Collins was the last living Jewish Gallipoli veteran. He died in 1992, three months before his 100th birthday.
Harold Emanuel Collins was born in 1892 in Paddington, NSW. He enlisted at the age of 22 in the AIF on 15 August 1914, one of approximately 1,800 Jewish soldiers to enlist in the Australian military. We don’t know what motivated him to enlist in the First World War. His family suspects it was to escape his alcoholic father combined with a desire for adventure. As one of 10 children, he started work at age 13 to support his family and throughout his service he sent his pay home to his mother.
He was allocated Regimental Number 619 and was posted to the 1st Field Ambulance Reinforcement 1, which embarked from Melbourne on board the HMAT Berrima on 22 December 1914 for training in Suez, Egypt. Collins was amongst the first wave of Australian servicemen landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. He spoke extensively of his experiences at Gallipoli; these memories became a feature of the family's Friday night dinners. He wanted an accurate account of what life was like during the war and did not shy away from recording horrific experiences and incidences in his diary.
Two weeks prior to the evacuation, Collins suffered a hernia and was evacuated to a hospital in Cairo. One can imagine the toll the months on the peninsula had on his body. While recuperating from injury, Collins enlisted in the Australia Flying Corps (predecessor of the Royal Australian Air Force) and was sent to the Western Front where he served for the remainder of the war. After the Armistice on 11 November 1918, he was seconded to the Accounts Department of the British Army, returning to Australia in October 1919.
Collins was awarded numerous decorations - the Meritorious Service Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and ANZAC Medal, Somme Medal, the Albert Medal and the Croix du combattant de l'Europe. Aside from his diary, he also took photographs which reveal his artistry and skill. He documented scenes of military and civilian life with the keen eye of a photo journalist, capturing a personal picture of the infrastructure of warfare, everyday life on the battlefield and his foreign surroundings.
Collins was a founding member of NAJEX (NSW Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women). Harold Collins was the last living Jewish Gallipoli veteran. He died in 1992, three months before his 100th birthday.
Место изготовленияFrance
Дата 1917 - 1918
Наименованиеjournals
Размерность
- width: 125.00 mm
height: 190.00 mm
Язык
Кредитная линияSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Harold E Collins