HENRY ROY HAMPTON
Regimental No. 10/3579
6 January 1897 – 7 August 1980
Henry Hampton survived nearly four years of active military service during WW1, and is named on the main panels of the Aro Valley memorial. His exemplifies youthful enthusiasm and courage, and he was both Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Military Medal, so his story has been added to accompany that of his father.
Henry Roy HAMPTON was the oldest of five children of William Henry and Elizabeth HAMPTON. He was born on the 16th January 1897, and attended Mitchelltown School, not far from his family home towards the top of Holloway Road in the Aro Valley. By the time he had turned 18 he was itching to go to war, so he increased his age by two years, claiming a birth date of 16 January 1895 when he attested at Trentham in October 1915. He had already passed his medical examination in April 1915, when he was accepted as fit for active service. At 5ft 91/2 inches he was a reasonably tall young man and may have seemed older than his actual years. However, a further examination in May sent him off to get a set of upper dentures fitted, classifying him meantime as “temporarily unfit”. By October he was all set for acceptance and finally attested at Trentham on 22 October 1915, at the age of 18 years 9 months.
Henry attested that he was an “Engineer” with the Government Remount Department when he signed up. While far too young to have any kind of qualification as an engineer as it would now be understood, his work may have required him to be working on engineering tasks around the Remount Depot at Trentham. This was where many of the more than 10,000 horses purchased by or donated to the government for war service were examined, classified, and branded with identifiers and cared for before being shipped to the various locations overseas where NZ soldiers were serving. His work at the Depot would have exposed him to military discipline and service, so his keenness to sign up may well have been encouraged by these circumstances.
On enlistment Henry joined the Wellington Infantry Regiment, was assigned the regimental number 10/3579, and then was in training camps two months until embarking with the 9th Reinforcements on the Maunganui on 8th January 1916, bound for Suez. The journey took only four weeks, arriving at Alexandria on 8th February 1916. After a further two months training in Egypt, Henry embarked on the Llandovery Castle for France on 9th April 1916, and spent the next 12 months fighting on the Western Front. At some point during the complex and thorough preparations for the Battle of Messines Henry’s actions were noted and he was Mentioned in Despatches by Sir Douglas Haig on 9th April, with a notice appearing in the Supplement to the London Gazette on 1 June 1917. The notice in the Gazette provides more information about Henry’s work and activities:
Regimental No. 10/3579
6 January 1897 – 7 August 1980
Henry Hampton survived nearly four years of active military service during WW1, and is named on the main panels of the Aro Valley memorial. His exemplifies youthful enthusiasm and courage, and he was both Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Military Medal, so his story has been added to accompany that of his father.
Henry Roy HAMPTON was the oldest of five children of William Henry and Elizabeth HAMPTON. He was born on the 16th January 1897, and attended Mitchelltown School, not far from his family home towards the top of Holloway Road in the Aro Valley. By the time he had turned 18 he was itching to go to war, so he increased his age by two years, claiming a birth date of 16 January 1895 when he attested at Trentham in October 1915. He had already passed his medical examination in April 1915, when he was accepted as fit for active service. At 5ft 91/2 inches he was a reasonably tall young man and may have seemed older than his actual years. However, a further examination in May sent him off to get a set of upper dentures fitted, classifying him meantime as “temporarily unfit”. By October he was all set for acceptance and finally attested at Trentham on 22 October 1915, at the age of 18 years 9 months.
Henry attested that he was an “Engineer” with the Government Remount Department when he signed up. While far too young to have any kind of qualification as an engineer as it would now be understood, his work may have required him to be working on engineering tasks around the Remount Depot at Trentham. This was where many of the more than 10,000 horses purchased by or donated to the government for war service were examined, classified, and branded with identifiers and cared for before being shipped to the various locations overseas where NZ soldiers were serving. His work at the Depot would have exposed him to military discipline and service, so his keenness to sign up may well have been encouraged by these circumstances.
On enlistment Henry joined the Wellington Infantry Regiment, was assigned the regimental number 10/3579, and then was in training camps two months until embarking with the 9th Reinforcements on the Maunganui on 8th January 1916, bound for Suez. The journey took only four weeks, arriving at Alexandria on 8th February 1916. After a further two months training in Egypt, Henry embarked on the Llandovery Castle for France on 9th April 1916, and spent the next 12 months fighting on the Western Front. At some point during the complex and thorough preparations for the Battle of Messines Henry’s actions were noted and he was Mentioned in Despatches by Sir Douglas Haig on 9th April, with a notice appearing in the Supplement to the London Gazette on 1 June 1917. The notice in the Gazette provides more information about Henry’s work and activities:
The Battle for Messines commenced on 7th June with huge explosions from underground mining efforts signalling the advance at 3.00am on 7th June. The tactical objective of the attack was to capture the German defences on the ridge, which ran from Ploegsteert (Plugstreet) Wood in the south, through Messines and Wytschaete to Mt. Sorrel, to deprive the German 4th Army of the high ground south of Ypres. The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres campaign, the preliminary bombardment for which began on 11 July 1917.
Henry’s war service continued in France for the rest of 1917. He had two spells in hospital, once for tonsillitis, and a few days later for swollen throat glands. He was also treated for dental decay. All these conditions were probably interrelated. He ended 1917 on attachment to the Dental Corps at No. 2 Field Ambulance, only rejoining his Battalion on 22nd February 1918.
After a couple of weeks leave in the UK from 4-21 March 1918, Henry continued with assigned field duties. On the 29th June he was promoted to Lance Corporal, then a week later, to Corporal. He battled on until the 26 August 1918, when he was admitted to hospital in the field with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. The circumstances in which Henry received this wound was revealed in a notice published in the London Gazette in January 1919, announcing that he had been awarded the Military Medal “for conspicuous gallantry and initiative”:
Henry’s war service continued in France for the rest of 1917. He had two spells in hospital, once for tonsillitis, and a few days later for swollen throat glands. He was also treated for dental decay. All these conditions were probably interrelated. He ended 1917 on attachment to the Dental Corps at No. 2 Field Ambulance, only rejoining his Battalion on 22nd February 1918.
After a couple of weeks leave in the UK from 4-21 March 1918, Henry continued with assigned field duties. On the 29th June he was promoted to Lance Corporal, then a week later, to Corporal. He battled on until the 26 August 1918, when he was admitted to hospital in the field with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. The circumstances in which Henry received this wound was revealed in a notice published in the London Gazette in January 1919, announcing that he had been awarded the Military Medal “for conspicuous gallantry and initiative”:
The timing and location of this event suggest that Henry and his father were fighting in pretty much the same area, and it is possible they would have been in contact. It also reveals that Henry was a man of action, and determined to protect and support his colleagues.
Henry’s active service ended when he was admitted to the 6th General Hospital on 26 August, and then to Brockenhurst in England, being admitted there on 1st September 1918. By the 5th September his wound had been treated and he was transferred to Hornchurch Convalescent Hospital. Henry was still at Hornchurch when his father William was killed in France on 13 September. Two days later a notice in New Zealand newspapers posted that Henry had been awarded the Military Medal for acts of gallantry in the field. This must have been bittersweet news once the family had been advised their father had died.
On 1st October Henry was well enough to be discharged from Hornchurch. After two weeks leave he returned to Codford and thence to Sling Camp on 19th October. In early November Henry was sent to Hayling Island, Hampshire to attend a Lewis gun training course at the School of Musketry. Hayling Island is situated south of Havant in Hampshire between Portsmouth and Emsworth. Training took place along the common next to the beach and the range was towards the south west end of the island. The Royal Hotel was the HQ for the Musketry School and the men were billeted there.
The training course finished in early December and on 6th December Henry had returned to Sling Camp. Henry eventually embarked for New Zealand on 7th February 1919, and was discharged from active service on 23rd April the same year, having served a total of 1,279 days.
Henry resumed “normal” life on his return, living at the family home in Holloway Road according to the Electoral Roll for the 1919 elections. He became an engineer, married Gladys Muriel EVANS in 1930, and eventually became a company director. He and Gladys had three children, lived in Petone for many years, and he died on the 7th August 1980, aged 83 years.
Henry’s active service ended when he was admitted to the 6th General Hospital on 26 August, and then to Brockenhurst in England, being admitted there on 1st September 1918. By the 5th September his wound had been treated and he was transferred to Hornchurch Convalescent Hospital. Henry was still at Hornchurch when his father William was killed in France on 13 September. Two days later a notice in New Zealand newspapers posted that Henry had been awarded the Military Medal for acts of gallantry in the field. This must have been bittersweet news once the family had been advised their father had died.
On 1st October Henry was well enough to be discharged from Hornchurch. After two weeks leave he returned to Codford and thence to Sling Camp on 19th October. In early November Henry was sent to Hayling Island, Hampshire to attend a Lewis gun training course at the School of Musketry. Hayling Island is situated south of Havant in Hampshire between Portsmouth and Emsworth. Training took place along the common next to the beach and the range was towards the south west end of the island. The Royal Hotel was the HQ for the Musketry School and the men were billeted there.
The training course finished in early December and on 6th December Henry had returned to Sling Camp. Henry eventually embarked for New Zealand on 7th February 1919, and was discharged from active service on 23rd April the same year, having served a total of 1,279 days.
Henry resumed “normal” life on his return, living at the family home in Holloway Road according to the Electoral Roll for the 1919 elections. He became an engineer, married Gladys Muriel EVANS in 1930, and eventually became a company director. He and Gladys had three children, lived in Petone for many years, and he died on the 7th August 1980, aged 83 years.