War Memorial Hall c1929
Rupert Holton HERD
Rupert Herd was born on 28 March 1892 in Ballarat, Victoria. His parents were David and Katie Helen (née Holton) Herd. He attended Scotch from 1906 to 1907.
Rupert was a grazier when he enlisted on 18 January 1915 in Melbourne. He served in the 13th Light Horse Regiment and the Australian Flying Corps with the rank of Lieutenant.
Rupert died on 16 June 1917 at Eastbourne, England. He was 25 years of age.
Service record
In March 1915 Rupert was allotted to reinforcements to the 8th Battalion. He attended officers’ training in June. On 12 July, as a 2nd Lieutenant he was transferred to the 7th Reinforcements for the 13th Light Horse Regiment. He left Melbourne with them on 23 November 1915. He joined the 13th Light Horse in Egypt in February 1916.
In March he was transferred to the unit’s headquarters and promoted to Lieutenant. That same month he was seconded to the 2nd Division Cycling Corps and then travelled to Marseille, France. In May 1916 Rupert was made Acting Quartermaster of the 1st ANZAC Cycling Battalion. The Scotch Collegian reported that he was at Armentieres, Ypres and the Somme. On 5th November he relinquished his post at his own request.
On 29 November he was given permission to leave France and join the Australian Flying Corps in England, while remaining ‘supernumerary’ to the Cycling Battalion. This may have involved reverting to 2nd Lieutenant, though the evidence in his record is contradictory.
In December 1916 Rupert was at the Royal Flying Corps School of Military Aeronautics in Reading, England, preparatory to joining the Australian Flying Corps. He had reportedly just finished his training when in June 1917 he was involved in an accident at the Eastbourne Aerodrome in England. During a training flight Rupert was a passenger acting as observer in an Avro 504A flown by a British pilot. The aircraft stalled and nose-dived in a fiery crash (see below). The pilot received only minor facial injuries and scrambled away, but Rupert was pinned underneath and received injuries to the skull and burns that proved fatal (see below).
Rupert’s funeral with full military honours on 20 June was described in a form in his service record (see below). His brother Leonard was also in attendance. In a letter, Rupert’s commandant spoke of the aptitude and enthusiasm that the young Australian had shown.
Rupert Herd is buried in the Eastbourne (Ocklynge) Cemetery (D.345), Sussex.
Photographs and Documents:
Rupert Herd is standing second from the right in the back row in this photograph of officers taken at Geelong in 1915.
Telegram reporting Rupert’s death.
Telegram from the Royal Naval Air Service commander at Eastbourne giving further details of the crash.
From burial report on Rupert Herd’s funeral, 20 June 1917
Sources:
- Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour
- Eastbourne Gazette 20 and 27 June, quoted at http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=70938
- Mishura Scotch Database
- National Archives of Australia – B2455, HERD R H LIEUTENANT
- Scotch Collegian 1917
- The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=135355
