Accession Number | REL41499 |
---|---|
Collection type | Heraldry |
Object type | Badge |
Physical description | Wool flannel |
Maker |
Unknown |
Date made | 1918 |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
ANZAC Leave Rosette: Australian Army, 1914-1918 - Private H V Reynolds 1 Field Ambulance, AIF
Pair of ANZAC leave rosettes made from red, white and dark blue wool flannel made up of concentric circles of red (outer), white and dark blue (inner), with three red, white and dark blue tails of equal length suspended from them.
Herbert Vincent Reynolds was born in 1896 at Sebastopol, Victoria. He enlisted for service in the First World War on 16 September 1914, his 18th birthday. Allocated the service number 622, he was sent to Broadmeadows Training Camp and was allotted to 4 Field Ambulance as a stretcher bearer.
He embarked from Australia with his unit on 22 October 1914 and disembarked at Alexandria in early February. Not long after arriving in Egypt, Reynolds transferred to 1 Field Ambulance. He spent the next two months training before sailing for the island of Lemnos on 5 April.
Reynolds landed at Gallipoli at 9am on 25 April and was immediately set to work. The beaches were still under very heavy fire and many Australians, and even some Turkish casualties, were given treatment before being sent to the hospital ships off shore.
During the August offensive, Reynolds became ill and on 16 August, was evacuated to Mudros with enteric fever. His illness was so severe that he was transported to England and on arrival was sent to King George Hospital in London. Reynolds recovered slowly and did not return to Gallipoli. He was sent back to Egypt in late February 1916 and returned to his unit in early March. In late March, Reynolds and his unit were shipped to France, arriving in Marseilles on 30 March.
Reynolds served throughout Pozieres and the following battles in both France and Belgium. He was wounded on 20 September 1917 during fighting on the Menin Road, receiving a gunshot wound to his left ear. He was evacuated to England on 23 September and spent over a month recovering, before being sent to an overseas training unit for the remainder of 1917.
Reynolds returned to France and rejoined his unit on 26 April near Hazebrouck. The men of 1 Field Ambulance remained in this position during the German spring offensive and did not relocate until the Allied August offensive began to push the German forces back.
Reynolds and 32 other men from 1 Field Ambulance left the unit on 3 October for a holding camp before embarking for Australia from Le Havre on 13 October. They had been granted a special six month leave for having enlisted in 1914. ANZAC rosettes were given to men returning on this special leave to wear on each sleeve so that members of the Australian public would recognise their previous early service and not accuse able bodied men of shirking service when recruits were still being sought to bolster the badly depleted fighting units of the AIF. Reynolds disembarked in Melbourne on 23 December and returned home to Sebastopol. He was discharged from the AIF on 20 March 1919.
He went on to become Mayor of Sebastopol, serving in this position from 1936-37, 1941-42, 1947-48, 1953-54 and 1959-60. Herbert Reynolds died in 1978.
'Special' or 'Anzac' leave was a privilege given to men who had been early 1914 enlistments and who were still on active service. As a sign of their status they were given an Anzac Leave rosette to wear on each shoulder of their uniform.
Related information
Conflicts
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