| Accession Number | P07978.001 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white - Print silver gelatin |
| Maker |
Anglo Egyptian Photo Studio |
| Place made | Egypt: Cairo |
| Date made | 1916-1918 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Studio portrait of 400 Sergeant (Sgt) Henry James (Harry) Chivers, 1st Light Horse Regiment ...
Description
Studio portrait of 400 Sergeant (Sgt) Henry James (Harry) Chivers, 1st Light Horse Regiment (1LHR), of Cowra NSW. A 22 year old farmer with two years militia service in the 9th Light Horse Regiment (NSW Mounted Rifles), Chivers enlisted in the AIF on 22 August 1914. He embarked from Sydney on 20 October 1914 aboard HMAT Star of Victoria (A26) and subsequently trained with his regiment in Egypt. The unit landed on Gallipoli on 12 May 1915. Although he was reported as receiving a gunshot wound to his face on 17 May, there his no record of his evacuation for medical treatment. He was promoted to Lance Corporal shortly before his regiment left Gallipoli in December 1915, to Corporal in January 1916, and Sergeant at the end of this year. From August 1916 Chivers took part in operations in Palestine. At the beginning of 1917 he returned to Egypt to undertake training as a Hotchkiss (machine gun) instructor. The rest of his service, apart from a brief period with 1 LHR in Palestine in August and September 1917, saw him working as an instructor at Zeitoun and Moascar in Egypt and undertaking further training courses himself. On 11 November 1918, the day the armistice ending the war was signed on the Western Front, Chivers was diagnosed with acute endocarditis. He died from the disease a month later and was buried at Port Said in Egypt. See REL39027 for the handkerchief that Sgt Chivers sent home as a present for his cousin, Vera Irene Chivers.