Second Lieutenant Henry Francis Briggs

Service number 63
Ranks Held Private, Second Lieutenant
Birth Date 1891-02-25
Birth Place United Kingdom: England, Sussex
Death Date 1916-07-20
Death Place France: Nord Pas de Calais, Nord, Fromelles
Final Rank Second Lieutenant
Service Australian Imperial Force
Units
  • 55th Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 55th Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 55th Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 55th Australian Infantry Battalion
Places
Conflict/Operation First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Henry Francis Briggs was born at Brighton, England in 1891 and worked as a salesman before the outbreak of the First World War. He was 23 years old when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 17 August 1914. He departed Sydney with the 3rd Battalion on 20 October 1914 aboard HMAT Euripides.

Briggs served with the 3rd Battalion in Gallipoli where he was promoted to sergeant on 18 May 1915. He fell ill in November 1915 and recuperated in Egypt until he re-joined his unit on 30 December 1915. Briggs was transferred to the 55th Battalion on 13 February 1916 but he didn't stay with this unit for long. He was transferred to the 14th Australian Machine Gun Company on 11 March 1916.

Briggs served with this unit on the Western Front until 20 July 1916. It was whilst fighting to occupy German trenches during the battle of Fromelles that he was reported missing and it was later confirmed that he had been killed in action on 14 September 1917. Henry Briggs is commemorated on the Villers-Brettoneux Memorial, France.

Rolls

Timeline

Date of birth 25 February 1891
Date of enlistment 17 August 1914
Date of embarkation 20 October 1914
Date of death 20 July 1916