Peden, Henry (Harry)
Lance Sergeant
No. 447, 2nd Battalion, Australian Infantry, AIF
Killed in action on Friday 6 August 1915 (aged 29)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Lone Pine Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey (Special Memorial C. 56)
Australian War Memorial
Holywood and District War Memorial
BIOGRAPHY
Henry (Harry) Peden was born on 7 February 1886 in Holywood and he was a son of Thomas Nathaniel Peden and Elizabeth (Eliza) Peden (nee Smyth, sometimes Smith) who were married on 28 January 1876 in Killinchy Presbyterian Church. Thomas Peden from Craigavad was a son of James Peden, a farmer. Elizabeth Smyth (aged 20) from Ballyminstra was a daughter of William Smyth, a labourer.
The Peden family lived at Mosside, Holywood.
Thomas Peden worked as a farmer and agricultural labourer and he and Elizabeth had at least six children including:
Sarah Jane (born 12 April 1881 at Ballymiscaw, Holywood)
James (born 13 July 1883 in Holywood)
Henry (born 7 February 1886 in Holywood)
Thomas Nathaniel (born 9 October 1895 in Holywood)
Thomas Peden Senior died on 21 August 1929 (aged 72).
Harry Peden served for eight years in the Royal Marines before he moved to Australia. There he worked as a labourer before he enlisted on 25 August 1914 in Randwick, Sydney, New South Wales. In his attestation papers it was noted that he was 5 feet 8 inches tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair and he cited his father Thomas as his next-of-kin.
Lance Sergeant Harry Peden was wounded at Gallipoli on 2 May 1915 and he was taken to hospital in Cairo. He re-joined his unit at Gallipoli on 22 June 1915 and was reported missing in action on 6 August. A Board of Proceedings held on 24 August determined that he must be presumed to have been killed in action between 6 and 9 August 1915 during the charge on Lone Pine. He has no known grave but is believed to have been buried in Lone Pine Cemetery. There is an inscription:
BELIEVED TO BE BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY
THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT
After he died, Lance Sergeant Harry Peden’s effects were gathered together and sent to his father in Holywood; they comprised a knife, a chain, a purse and a pendant. Lance Sergeant Harry Peden is commemorated on Holywood and District War Memorial.