Harry Innott NAYLOR

Harry Naylor was born on 2 January 1874 in Blackwood, Victoria. His parents were Henry Innott and Mary Jane (née Simpson) Naylor. He attended Scotch from 1889 to 1890.

Harry was a schoolteacher at state schools in Western Australia when he enlisted on 7 July 1915 at Melbourne, Victoria. He served in the 11th Battalion with the rank of Lieutenant. His Regimental Number was 3230.

Harry died on 10 August 1918 at Lihons, France. He was 44 years of age.

Service record

When he enlisted, Harry claimed to be 36 years old, but was in fact 41. He was just 5 feet 6 ½ inches (169 cm) tall. He was allotted as a Private to the 11th Reinforcements of the 11th Battalion, a Western Australian unit. In October 1915 he was made an Acting Sergeant. On joining the 11th Battalion on 2 March 1916 he was, in accordance with custom, reverted to the rank of Private. However, his talents were sufficient to see him promoted again, first to Corporal on 22 March and then Sergeant on 2 June 1916.

In December he was hospitalised for 12 days suffering from ‘debility and influenza’. He was wounded in action in April 1917, with shell wounds to the face and legs, and then sent to England. These wounds were categorised as superficial. There was also a diagnosis of nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys), but the London Military Hospital found no evidence of this. The 11th Battalion history tells that when Harry was wounded he was not wearing his tunic, and that he was thus evacuated without it. His mate Charlie Irons examined the tunic and found some £30 in a pocket. He forwarded it to Harry. The history remarked that he was lucky.

On 7 September Harry had recovered sufficiently to sail from Southampton for England. On 1 October 1917 he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. On 1 January 1918 he became a full Lieutenant. This had been a meteoric rise but probably owed something to his experience as a Lieutenant in Cadets in Western Australia about 10 years earlier. He attended a Field Engineer School for much of February and March 1918.

On 10 August 1918 Harry was one of the officers in an 11th Battalion attack on Crepy Wood near Lihons. The battalion history explains the difficulty of attacking this wooded area crisscrossed with old and new trench lines. It describes the action thus: ‘…long before they reached their jumping-off mark the 11th Battalion boys were met by a deadly and well sustained machine gun fire. On they dashed and into the maze of trenches, and an almost hand-to-hand battle took place. Many on both sides were shot through the head at close range.’ Harry was killed early in the action. He was one of seven officers the battalion lost on that costly day. Harry was an early principal (some sources say the first) of Rosalie Primary School, in Western Australia, and in recognition of his service the school adopted the 11th Battalion’s brown and blue colours for its logo.

Harry Naylor is buried in the Heath Cemetery (Plot IV, Row J, Grave No. I), Harbonnieres, France.

Photographs and Documents:

Sources:

1. Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour and War Diary of the 11th Battalion, 10 August 1918: AWM4 Subclass 23/28 - 11th Infantry Battalion
2. Belford, Walter C., Legs Eleven: Being the story of the 11th Battalion (A.I.F.) in the Great War of 1914-1918, Imperial Printing, Perth, WA, 1940.
3. ‘Brigadier teaches students lessons of war’, WA Department of Education website, 21 April 2015
4. Mishura Scotch Database. The school’s Archivist, Paul Mishura, identified Harry as a Scotch War death in 2010. His name was added to the Memorial Hall Honour Roll in 2015.
5. National Archives of Australia – B2455, NAYLOR HARRY INNOTT
6. The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=220750
7. ‘The Story of the 11th Battalion’, Western Mail, 25 August 1938, p. 9, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37852635.