Harold Percival Moorehead

[john white]

 

Dear Members

                 The above-named soldier served at Gallipoli in the 22nd Battalion of the AIF. On 19th September he was wounded by a round  of Shrapnel and severely injured. He was evacuated to Egypt and on 14th October 1915 suffered a double amputation, his right arm above the elbow and his right leg above the knee. On 4th November he was put on a Hospital Ship and in December he reached Melbourne to be met by his father and taken home to Hawthorn, which I understand is a suburb of Melbourne. In 1920 he was married but sadly in 1929, as a result of injuries caused by the war, he died. I have looked at his records and attached is a summary of his casualty record. It would seem that he was awarded an OBE. Does anybody have any details of the reason for this award or indeed anything relating to him in the Nineteen- Twenties please? His brother, Frank, was killed at the start of the campaign and his nephew was the writer, Alan Moorhead, whose book on Gallipoli began my deep interest in the campaign.

                                         Thank you

                                                John White

[Jeff Pickerd]

John,

 

I can find nothing from the 28 pages of his service record to indicate he was awarded the OBE

A search of the AWM Unit War diary makes no mention of any such award being given to any of its personal during the Gallipoli campaign, nor is there a record of him having been bestowed with the OBE on the AWM web site.

The only thing that I can think of is that you have misinterpreted as to being the OBE would be from page 28 of his service record, that being the three notifications of his wounding being forwarded to his Next of kin, the poorly written abbreviation O?E. I would assume that would stand for something like an overseas communication, but I have no idea as to what it should be, or what it really stands for.

 

Jeff

[alantwo]

I wondered if it might be ‘OIC’, informed by Officer in Charge (Base Records), Captain James Malcolm Lean?

 

Regards

Alan

Edited 28 February , 2019 by alantwo

[MaxD]

 The London Gazette  19 October 1920 has an award of the OBE  in an Australian list to Harold Percival Moorehead Esq  The list appears to be mostly civilians and in many cases has a "for services to...." but not in his case.  The fairly distinctive name would suggest this is he.

 

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32090/page/10096

 

 

Max

Edited 28 February , 2019 by MaxD
source

[Jeff Pickerd]

Thanks for that Max, good work.

Just goes to show I didn’t look far enough.

A search of Trove brings up three articles of the Honours List. The Sydney Morning Herald of Saturday 16th October 1920, page 15, Honours List, does give Harold Percival Moorhead being awarded the OBE, as do the other two articles, but none give any further information as to the reasson to him being honoured.

 

Jeff

[john white]

Gentlemen 

          Thank you all for your contributions regarding Harold P Moorehead. I notice from his death notice in Ancestry that there is a link which I have attached, regarding time spent in a lunatic asylum in 1928. Maybe he had acquired mental problems as a result of his terrible war wounds. Two amputations! The war had certainly exacted a heavy price on the Moorehead family, bearing in mind the death of Frank Moorehead as well.

                                      Regards

                                            John White

[john white]

Dear Members

                  I have had another look at Harold P Moorehead and notice that he was heavily involved with the Repatriation Commission after the war. It may have been for this work that he received his O.B.E.

                                  Regards

                                         John White

[john white]

Dear Members

                  I have done some more research om Harold P Moorehead and have come across two obituaries from Melbourne newspapers and also a photograph of the initial meeting of the Repatriation Commisson. Moorehead is at the back and has no right leg or right arm He married in 1920 and had one son and later became head of the Commission in Victoria . I have not been able to find any details about his wife or son. Very sad. I think he did the best he could.

                                             Regards

                                                   John White

[john white]

Dear Members

                   I also attach a "close-up" of Moorehead taken from the photo and put through Picasa. A smart looking man.

                                                  Regards

                                                        John White