More than just a name

Local Studies has acquired 23 photographs of local soldiers who served in the First World War from the Australian War Memorial as part of the ‘More than just a name’ project.

One of the photographs (P05276.006) shows Lieutenant Harold Leslie Henley (left) with his father Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Henley at the Sphinx in Egypt.

Thomas Henley, a former Mayor of Drummoyne, was a Member of Parliament during the First World War. He volunteered to go to Egypt as a commissioner for the Australian Comforts Fund to organise the distribution of goods to the troops. His son Lieutenant Harold Leslie Henley was a law student at the University of Sydney when he enlisted in 1914. He served in the Australian Naval and Expeditionary Force which captured wireless stations in German New Guinea and then joined the 13th Battalion. In March 1916 Harold was promoted to Captain. He was killed in action on 15 August 1916 in France, aged 23 years.

There are memorial stained glass windows in honour of Harold Leslie Henley at Drummoyne Presbyterian Church. Henley Marine Drive and Henley Park commemorate Sir Thomas Henley.