Henri Hermene Tovell

Henri Hermene Tovell was a French orphan of World War I.

Reports conflict as to the circumstances in which Henri became attached to an Australian unit during the war, and his subsequent removal from France after the war ended. His adopted father, Timothy William Tovell, claimed that many newspaper reports from the time were not factual, & that "truth is stranger than fiction".

The following account is from information located at the Australian War Memorial, within "The history of the Fourth Squadron,' Australian Flying Corps" by E. J. Richards, & from an article published in The Telegraph (Brisbane) on 25 August 1922. 

Henri was picked up by a battery of the British Royal Field Artillery in the retreat from Mons in August 1914. At the time, the battery was near the out-skirts of Lille, & the boy, aged about 6 years of age, being homeless & without relatives or guardians, was adopted as the battery mascot. Henri continued with the battery during its exploits on the battle front, and towards the end of 1916 was wounded above the knee by shrapnel during the fighting around Ypres. He passed through the casualty clearing, station, and was in hospital for two months. Upon returning to the battery he met with further misfortune, for the officer who had befriended him had been killed along with his gun crew.

Henri was sent back from the line and handed over to No. 4 Balloon Section of the Royal Air Force, subsequently attaching himself to a hangar party. Later he joined No. 79 Squadron, Royal Air Force, whose sergeant-major took him to a school (or home) at St. Mary Chappelle.  Henri had been there only two days when he ran away, & was befriended by a party from the Labour Corps. He related his story to the members of the party & was sent back to the No. 79 Squadron. On arrival at the aerodrome, he found No. 13 Squadron on the point of leaving & they took him along with them. He afterwards transferred to No. 48 Squadron, which was moving forward in pursuit of the retreating Germans in October 1918.

Upon reaching the western outskirts of Lille, where he was first picked up, inquiries were made with the hope of locating some of his friends or relatives. It was ascertained that his mother had been killed during the bombardment, and that his father (a soldier in the French army) had been killed in action. Nobody wanted the boy, so he continued along with No. 48 Squadron, and eventually reached Cologne.

On Christmas Day 1918, he was attracted by the banquet provided in the mechanics' mess of the No. 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, & was asked to stay & join them. No. 4 Squadron was stationed at Bickendorf Airfield, Cologne, Germany, at the time. At the end of the meal, he asked if he could remain, & thinking it was only a passing fancy of the boy's, his new friends in No. 48 raised no objection. As time went on, Henri became a conspicuous figure in the squadron. A subscription list provided him with a uniform made by a tailor in Cologne, and he made himself useful around the hangars and cook-house by doing odd jobs. Henri was renamed "Digger", and he firmly attached himself to Air Mechanic Timothy William Tovell. The medical section calculated his age as eleven, & 25 December 1918 was set as his birthday. 

When the squadron left Cologne, Henri continued with it and travelled with the convoy back to the coast. In February 1919, the problem of how to get him on board the vessel to England presented itself. It was solved by placing Digger in a kitbag, which was slung over a soldier's shoulder. In a kitbag he again safely evaded detection when the squadron embarked for Australia on the transport ship Kaisar-i-Hind on 6 May 1919.  The ship's Captain discovered he was on board but let him stay, & with the aid of Queensland Premier Thomas Ryan, who was also on board, special permission was granted for him to land in Sydney & move to Queensland. Air Mechanic Tovell & Digger arrived at the Tovell family home at Jandowae, where Digger was accepted as a member of the family.

"My father," said Henri, in the course of an interview in 1919, "was killed early in the war, during the first week, and my mother a short while later. I do not know a lot about my past, but I had no brothers or sisters. I know I am glad to be here. The Aussies have been very kind to me all through, and I never want to leave their country".

In October 1919, the family moved to Cooroy, and later to Brisbane. The French Consul agreed that Digger could be adopted by Tim Tovell but he could not be naturalised until he was 21. In 1926, at the age of 18, Digger left for Melbourne to work for the RAAF as a civilian member at Point Cook until he was naturalised & considered for entry into the service.

On 24 May 1928 Digger died from injuries sustained when his motorcycle collided with a taxi in Spring Street, Melbourne. Friends from the RAAF formed the bearer party at the burial in Fawkner Cemetery, the body borne to the cemetery on an Air Force trailer. A special memorial featuring a statue of a young boy was erected over Digger's grave. 

In a letter from Tim Tovell to Mr. Coleman, Secretary of the Air Board, RAAF, Melbourne, after the death of Henri in 1928, Tim writes "I remember when he [Henri] and I arrived home from France, we stood by the grave of my dear son [Timmy], and read on the headstone these words, 'Who plucked this flower, The Master, the Gardener held his peace', and he said, they are nice words Tim. I hope that these will someday be placed at the head of his own dear grave".

The original memorial to Henri Tovell, erected by public subscription, was vandalised in the 1950s. A new memorial was funded & installed by the RAAF Association and the Department of Veterans' Affairs in June 2009. The new stone reads:

"Henri Hermene (Digger) Tovell.  A French orphan of World War I. Smuggled to Australia & adopted by Air Mechanic T. W. Tovell 4 Squadron Australian Flying Corps. Succumbed to accident injuries 24 May 1928. Aged about 21 years. Who plucked this flower? The Master. The Gardener held his peace"

There is evidence that Henri's real name was 'Honore' as he had signed his name as such. Henri had also stated that Honore was his real name.