Date of birth: 26/11/1895

Place of birth: Ingham, Queensland, Australia

Profession: Carpenter

Country: Australia

Force: Australian Imperial Force

Rank: Lance Corporal

Service number: 578

Enlistment date: 13/12/1915

Enlistment place: Townsville, Queensland, Australia

Units:  —  Australian Infantry, 41st Bn. ( The Byron Scottish )  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 05/10/1917

Place of death: Daisy Wood, Zonnebeke, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 21

1914-15 Star Medal

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

On 4 October 1917 the 41st Bn. A.I.F. took part in the Battle of Broodseinde, a sub battle in the Battle of Passchendaele. The 3rd Australian Division was to attack along the Ypres-Zonnebeke Railway with the 10th Brigade to left and 11th Brigade to the right. The 41st Bn. A.I.F. was responsible for taking the forth an final objective. The going to the jump-off line was tough and costed several casualties. From Bremen Redoubt they moved across the Zonnebeke marsh and could finally reach their assembly positions (Hill 40 – Flox House/Dochy Farm). At 6 AM, zero hour, the attack and artillery barrage began. The first objective was taken by the 43th Bn. A.I.F., the second by the 42th Bn. A.I.F. The third objective was taken by the 44th Bn. A.I.F. By then the 41th Bn. suffered severe casualties. The 41th Bn. took the fourth and final objective (Daisy Wood – Dash Crossing) and started consolidating. Several counter attacks were repulsed by by Lewis Gun and rifle fire. Two large scale counter attacks were dispersed by artillery fire. 36 men were killed of which 4 officers, 206 were wounded of which 5 officers and 24 men were missing. The 41th Bn. held the line until the morning of the 6th October, when they were relieved. Lance corporal Hector Harrison Anderson died on the 5th of October, while consolidating and holding the line.

41st Infantry Battalion (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/58). https://www.awm.gov.au/ Sources used

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920 (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, ANDERSON H H). http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/ Sources used

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995) pg. 99. Sources used

Members of the Intelligence Staff, The Forty-First. Being a Record of the 41st AIF during the Great War. (London, The Naval & Military Press Ltd, 2010) p. 61-64. Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1597397

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=73ce1bee-ea5e-46c9-add0-6bf3cd6ce7b3

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7321944

The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=4882