Sergeant Harold Reginald Cocks, 42nd Australian Infantry Battalion
Australian War MemorialHarold Cocks was born on 6 February 1895 in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong. He was the eldest of eight children born to Richard Cocks, a grocer, and his wife Mary Ann. Harold went to the local school in Toowong. After his schooling, he joined the local militia, before going to work as a grocer’s assistant, which was his job when the First World War broke out in 1914.
Harold Cocks enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on the 1st of March 1917. He was assigned to the 3rd Reinforcements of the 42nd Infantry Battalion as a private, and began training. He embarked for active service on 14 June 1917, sailing from Sydney on board the troopship Hororata.
After several weeks at sea, Cocks arrived in Liverpool, England. He was made corporal and continued his training. In December 1917, Cocks went to the Western Front, joining his unit in the trenches around Bois Grenier in France in the midst of a very cold and wet winter. He and his comrades saw out the next weeks in routine trench duty and training behind the lines.
In March 1918, German forces launched their Spring Offensive with a series of strong attacks along the allied front. The 42nd Battalion helped to repulse multiple attacks and played a role in blunting the drive towards the vital railway junction of Amiens. By June, the enemy’s offensive had failed to make any significant breakthroughs. As a result, Allied forces began planning to launch their own major offensive, settting their sights on the strategic town of Hamel. Capturing this region would provide a significant foothold in the Somme, while also allowing them to maintain the defence of Amiens.
The attack was among the first of its kind, using a combination of tanks, aircraft, infantry and artillery to make a coordinated attack on enemy lines. Lieutenant General John Monash anticipated it would take just 90 minutes for the troops to take their objectives, if the attack went as planned. When Cocks and his comrades advanced on 4 July, the all-arms combination quickly proved successful and the allied forces took their objectives swiftly, and with few casualties.
Australian units suffered just over 1,000 casualties during the attack. Among the wounded was Sergeant Harold Cocks who was wounded by shrapnel during the attack at Hamel. Suffering critical injuries to his abdomen, Cocks was rushed to a casualty clearing station just outside Amiens. But little could be done for him and he died of his wounds later that day.
Following his death, Cocks family paid tribute to him with a short poem placed in the Brisbane Courier. It read:
“A bright life he sacrificed for King and Country,
and for those he loved so dear.”
Sergeant Harold Cocks was 23 years old.
- Australian War Memorial, Roll of Honour https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1712336
