Herbert Elijah Bryant was born in Ballarat and was a Storeman by trade when he enlisted in the 7th Battalion, 23rd Reinforcement on 6 June 1916 at the age of 27. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on 23 November 1916. . He had already been a member of a local rifle club for nine years and was noted as a ægood rifle shot'. After further training in England, on May 10th 1917, he joined the 7th Battalion in France. In September of that year he was wounded in action, but his wounds were slight and he was able to remain on duty. In December of 1917 he was posted for a short period to the 177th Tunnelling Company, but returned to the 7th Battalion in early 1918. On August 25th 1918 he was wounded for a second time, suffering from gas poisoning, and evacuated to the Beaufort Military Hospital at Bristol. After the war he returned to Australia on the Ceramic, but on March 11th 1919 he was forced to disembark at Hobart where he was admitted to hospital suffering from influenza.
Tree No. 2431