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Henry Patrick Joyce - Information

Henry Patrick Joyce belonged to a Campbelltown family. Henry’s parents, Michael Joseph and Mary Ann Joyce married in Campbelltown in 1869.They then welcomed nine children into the world. Henry was born in Minto on the 1st of February 1884, and grew up in the Campbelltown region before moving to Sydney. In 1912, he married Edith Eileen Butler in Redfern. Henry and Edith settled in Rockdale and started their family, while he worked for the railway.

Henry joined the AIF in Sydney on the 13th of May 1918, aged 33. He commenced his training at the M & D Depot in Liverpool where he was naturally posted to the Railway Unit as a Sapper. Henry embarked Sydney on the HMAT Borda on the 17th of July 1918 for war service. He arrived in London in September, and was marched into the Railway Depot in Longmoor. Henry was still in England when the Armistice was declared on the 11th November. A week later, Henry was designated to the 1st Australian Light Railway Operating Company. He was then sent overseas to France from Dover, where he helped tie up the cessation of hostilities by transporting men and equipment to various depots. Henry’s war service concluded in 1919, and he was sent home to Australia on the 7th of July.