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Horatio John Charles Carpenter - Information

Horatio was the youngest child of Horatio and Lydia Carpenter. Horatio John was born in Camden on the 24th of October 1873. He grew up in the area with his many siblings, sadly losing his father in 1905 and mother in 1915. By the time the war started, Horatio was living in Berrie on the Murray River in South Australia. With him, was his lovely wife Sarah Emmaline. Horatio made a living working as a horticulturalist and served in the Berrie Rifle Club. He then decided to enlist in the AIF, signing on in Renmark on the 12th of February 1917, aged 43. He became a Trooper with the 27th Reinforcements, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, and sent abroad on the HMAT Port Sydney which departed Sydney on the 9th of May 1917.

Horatio disembarked at Suez in late June, and was marched out to an Isolation Camp. On the 3rd of August, he was taken on strength to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. However, on the same day he reported to hospital sick with heat exhaustion. He remained in the 24th Stationary Hospital for a week, before returning to his unit. Patrolling in the desert, with the intense heat, unsuitable water supplies and poor rations was very difficult to endure. With his unit, Horatio took part in operations in the Jordan Valley. However, continued exposure to these meagre conditions affected Horatio’s health. In early June 1918, he reported sick with extreme debility, and was admitted to the 36th General Hospital in Cairo. Given an extensive period to convalescence, he did not return to his unit until after the war ended, joining them in mid February 1919. In late April, he again reported sick to hospital in Port Said with laryngitis. After Horatio recovered, he was sent back to Australia from Suez on the 17th of July 1919. He was discharged from the army in September, and he returned to Sarah in Berrie.