Harry Laurent

Harry John Laurent, VC (15 April 1895 – 9 December 1987) was a New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Harry Laurent
Harry Laurent during the First World War
Born(1895-04-15)15 April 1895
Tarata, New Zealand
Died9 December 1987(1987-12-09) (aged 92)
Hastings, New Zealand
Memorial
Servicemen's Cemetery, Hāwera
AllegianceNew Zealand
Service/branchNew Zealand Military Forces
Years of service1911–1919
1939–1949
RankLieutenant Colonel
Unit2nd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade (1915–18)
Battles/warsFirst World War

Second World War

  • Home Front
AwardsVictoria Cross

Born in Tarata, Laurent was a grocer's assistant when he volunteered in May 1915 to serve in the First World War with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF). He was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and from 1916 served on the Western Front. It was on 12 September 1918, during an engagement that followed the Second Battle of Bapaume, that he performed the actions that led to him being honoured with the VC. He ended the war as a second lieutenant. Discharged from the NZEF, he returned to civilian life but was recalled to active duty during the Second World War and was involved in the Home Guard. He was the last surviving New Zealand VC recipient of the First World War at the time of his death in 1987.

Early life

Henry John Laurent, known as Harry, was born on 15 April 1895 in Tarata, in the Taranaki region of New Zealand.[1] His father, John, and mother, Mary, were farmers. His family was of French descent, his grandfather, a former officer in the French Army, having emigrated to New Zealand in 1852.[2] The family moved to Hawera while Laurent was still a child.[1] He attended Hawera District High School[3] and after completing his education, he found work as a grocer's assistant. He also served with the Territorial Force, having joined at the age of 16.[1]

First World War
Harry John Laurent military personnel file (1915-1949)

In May 1915, Laurent enlisted with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), shortly after his 20th birthday.[1] An attempt to volunteer for the NZEF the previous year had been declined, as he was below the minimum age for service aboard.[4] Posted to the 2nd Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (NZRB), Laurent embarked for the Middle East in October 1915. He did not arrive in time to be involved in the Gallipoli Campaign and instead participated in the defence of the Suez Canal.[3]

In March 1916, the Rifle Brigade was designated part of the newly formed New Zealand Division and the following month it was sent to the Western Front.[5] Laurent participated in the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, part of the Somme Offensive, during which he was wounded. After a period of hospital treatment, he returned to his battalion in April 1917. He received a series of promotions over the next several months,[3] and during this time, his battalion participated in the Battle of Messines as the reserve for the NZRB,[6] the First Battle of Passchendaele,[7] and in defending the British lines near Colincamps during the Spring Offensive of late-March 1918.[8] By September 1918 Laurent had advanced in rank to sergeant.[3]

During the Hundred Days Offensive, the New Zealand Division, following the Second Battle of Bapaume, was in pursuit of retreating German forces. Leading a patrol on 12 September in the area east of Gouzeaucourt Wood, France, Laurent was ordered to locate and regain contact with the German front lines. The 12-man patrol inadvertently penetrated through the front line and located a line of artillery. Realising the patrol's mistake, Laurent organised a swift attack which resulted in the capture of 112 prisoners, with one member of the patrol being killed and three others wounded. He then extricated his patrol, together with the prisoners, back to the New Zealand line, fighting off counterattacks along the way.[3] For his bravery and leadership, he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC).[1] The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest gallantry award that could be bestowed on a soldier of the British Empire.[9] His VC was gazetted on 12 November 1918,[1] and the citation read:

For most conspicuous bravery, skill, and enterprise when during an attack he was detailed to exploit an initial success and keep in touch with the enemy. With a party of twelve he located the enemy support line very strongly held, at once charged the position, followed by his men, and completely disorganised the enemy by his sudden onslaught. In the subsequent hand-to-hand fighting which ensued he showed great resourcefulness in controlling and encouraging his men, and thirty of the enemy having been killed, the remainder surrendered, a total of one officer and 111 other ranks in all. The success of this daring venture, which caused his party four casualties only, was due to his gallantry and enterprise

— The London Gazette, No. 31012, 19 November 1918[10]
A portrait by Archibald Frank Nicoll of Laurent, painted in 1920

Laurent was sent to England in October 1918, where he attended an officer training school. The war had ended by the time he was commissioned in February 1919.[3] He, together with three other New Zealanders who had been awarded the VC,[Note 1] received his medal from King George V in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 27 February 1919.[11] A few months later, he left England for New Zealand and his hometown of Hawera. On his arrival, the mayor presented him a gold watch and chain, the cost of which was met by public donations.[3] In October 1919, he was part of the welcoming party when fellow VC recipient and Hawera resident John Grant returned home.[12]

Later life

Discharged from the NZEF and placed on the Reserve of Officers,[3] Laurent settled into life in Hawera and soon found employment at a grocery store. He later worked as a sales representative.[2] He married Ethel Homewood, originally from England, on 20 July 1921, in a ceremony at Hawera. Fellow VC recipients John Grant and Leslie Andrew were present, the former in the capacity of best man.[13] In 1937, Laurent, along with several other VC recipients, was awarded the coronation medal to commemorate the ascension of King George VI to the British throne.[14]

During the Second World War, Laurent was recalled to the Reserve of Officers of the New Zealand Military Forces.[15] He was soon commanding a battalion in the Home Guard.[16] Later promoted to a temporary lieutenant colonel, he was made group director of the Hawera Home Guard in early 1942.[17] Late the following year he was appointed commander of the Hawera squadron of the Air Training Corps[18] and held this post until 1945. He was formally seconded to the Royal New Zealand Air Force for a brief period as a squadron commander of 34th Air Training Squadron before ceasing active duty at the end of the war. He formally retired from the military in 1949.[3]

At the age of 61, Laurent went to London in 1956 as part of the VC centenary celebrations. He attended further VC events in the following years.[3] He died in Hastings on 9 December 1987, the last surviving New Zealand VC winner of the First World War.[1] His wife had predeceased him the previous year.[3] His ashes are interred in the Memorial Wall at the Servicemen's Cemetery at Hāwera, his hometown.[1] A street in the town is also named after him, and nearby is Grant VC Street, named for fellow VC recipient John Grant.[19]

Laurent's VC was displayed at the QEII Army Memorial Museum in Waiouru, along with his service medals from the First and Second World Wars and his coronation medals.[3] On 2 December 2007, Laurent's VC was one of nine Victoria Crosses that were among a hundred medals stolen from the museum. On 16 February 2008, New Zealand Police announced all the medals had been recovered as a result of a NZ$300,000 reward offered by Michael Ashcroft and Tom Sturgess.[20]

Notes

Footnotes

  1. The other New Zealand recipients were James Crichton, a private at the time, and Second Lieutenants Reginald Judson and John Grant.[11]

Citations

  1. Harper & Richardson 2007, pp. 171–172.
  2. "Word on the street: Laurent VC Street, Hawera". Taranaki Daily News. Stuff. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. Gliddon 2014, pp. 238–239.
  4. "Sergt. Laurent, V.C." Waikato Times (13918). 20 November 1918. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  5. McGibbon 2000a, p. 366.
  6. Austin 1924, p. 196.
  7. Austin 1924, p. 235.
  8. Austin 1924, pp. 277–282.
  9. O'Shea 2000, pp. 558–559.
  10. "No. 31012". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 November 1918. p. 13472.
  11. "Four Victoria Cross Men". New Zealand Herald (Vol. LVI, issue 13170). 8 April 1919. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  12. "Lieut. Grant V.C. Welcomed Home". Hawera & Normanby Star (LXXIV). 29 October 1919. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  13. "Wedding: Laurent – Homewood". Hawera & Normanby Star (Vol. XLI, issue XLI). 23 August 1921. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  14. "V.C's Honoured – Coronation Medals". Auckland Star (155). 2 July 1937. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  15. "Military Forces – Reserve of Officers". Otago Daily Times (23959). 7 November 1939. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  16. McGibbon 2000b, p. 274.
  17. "Personal Items". Press (23545). 24 January 1942. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  18. "Army Appointments". Auckland Star (Vol. LXXIV, issue 299). Press Association. 17 December 1943. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  19. "Grant VC Street". Kete New Plymouth. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  20. NZPA (16 February 2008). "Medals stolen from Waiouru Army Museum recovered". nzherald. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
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References
  • Austin, Lieut.-Col W. S. (1924). The Official History of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Wellington, New Zealand: L. T. Watkins Limited. OCLC 220312361.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gliddon, Gerald (2014) [2004]. Road to Victory 1918. VCs of the First World War. Stroud, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom: History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5361-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Harper, Glyn; Richardson, Colin (2007). In the Face of the Enemy: The Complete History of the Victoria Cross and New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-1-86950-650-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • McGibbon, Ian (2000a). "New Zealand Expeditionary Force". In McGibbon, Ian (ed.). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press. pp. 364–369. ISBN 0-19-558376-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • McGibbon, Ian (2000b). "Laurent, Lieutenant-Colonel Harry John". In McGibbon, Ian (ed.). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press. p. 274. ISBN 0-19-558376-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • O'Shea, Phillip (2000). "Victoria Cross". In McGibbon, Ian (ed.). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press. pp. 558–561. ISBN 0-19-558376-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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