The short answer, unfortunately, is "badly".

Harry was a hero in life and a hero in death. He enlisted at Dubbo on June 14, 1916, and ended up in the 18th Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Division of the AIF.

The then 30-year-old left Australia on October 7, 1916, aboard HMAT Ceramic, and disembarked at Plymouth on November 21, 1916.

Less than a year after leaving he was dead, killed near Anzac Road in the Battle of Menin Road [during Third Ypres] on September 20, 1917.

Harry's death came less than a month after a close friend, Martha J. Boyd of Moss Vale had written to the army on August 13, 1917, seeking information on his whereabouts.

Harry had been admitted to hospital with dysentery, a life-threatening condition on the Western Front, and she had "very important news".

The next recorded communication was when his name appeared in the casualty lists almost two months after his death.

On November 4, 1917, Martha, who was from Queanbeyan, wrote:

"Will you please find out particulars about No 5803, Pte H.T. Hockley, 18th Battalion, - I saw in casualty list in the paper November 3, his name killed in action, will you please let me know if it is correct, by doing so you will greatly oblige."

In a footnote Martha, who was temporarily living at the residence of a Dr Stevenson in Moss Vale, said: "The last letter I had was written on September 10 and he is reported killed on 20 September."

The officer in charge of base records wrote back, in my view rather snootily, on November 10, 1917.

"The only information yet available regarding Private Hockley is that contained in the brief cable message: "Killed in action, 20-9-17".

"Later official advice coming to hand by mail will, it is anticipated, give further particulars, and these on receipt, will be promptly transmitted to next-of-kin, shown as father [Henry Hockey, Middlesex, England], and will be available to you on application at a later date."

A bit more understanding of the girl's position may not have gone amiss.

Harry had been born in England and had no family in Australia. This explains why he left very light footprints downunder.

The delay in the notification of his death may be explained by the fact Third Ypres was a meat grinder of a battle, fought in a swamp of earth, mud, blood and guts as the days were growing shorter and the cold was coming down.

Bodies and bits of bodies could be sucked into the mud and not be found for days or weeks, if at all.

While Martha was not a wife she was almost certainly a sweetheart. It is not inconceivable the "important news" may even have related to the appearance of a child.

Her tribute to Harry, published in the Queanbeyan Age on Tuesday, November 6, 1917, read:

"Gone is the one I loved so dear,

"Silent the voice I loved to hear:

"Too far away for sight or speech,

"But not too far for my thoughts to reach.

"He bade no-one his last farewell,

"He waved his hand to none;

"His spirit fled before I knew,

"That from me he had gone."

Tomorrow [Tuesday] I will publish the details I have found out about Peter Long, the other man who entered the burning Freebody house in Queanbeyan in August 1915.

His tale, fortunately, is a much happier one.

In the meantime, does anybody know what happened to Martha J. Boyd?

Londoners are a hardy lot. Over the centuries they have survived plague, fire, invaders from France and wealthy tourists from America and other parts of the world.

During the 20th century however the biggest threats came from the air; the Zeppelin assaults of World War One followed by The Blitz and then the V1 and V2 campaigns of World War Two.

My favourite newspaper of the period [thanks National Archives Australia for putting it online], Army News, reported on this day 71 years ago that the residents of London were largely unfazed by the latest gifts from Hitler, going about their normal business with stoic courage and good humour.

"Special mention has been made of the heroism of men and women railway workers who have risked death for public service," the paper said.

"One paper says the next list of bravery awards will include decorations for acts of heroism during the flying bomb attacks."

I found it interesting that the word "robot' was being used in the context of a semi-autonomous unmanned weapon at this early date.

"Some damage was caused to London railways during the recent robot attacks it is pointed out that men and women railway workers carried on with their jobs with remarkable courage during the blitz.

"A suburban railway station was destroyed, two men killed and the line torn up, but within 26 hours the full train service was restored.

"In another place a flying bomb blew a railway village off its supports. It was resurrected within a few hours."

Army News said track layers had been standing ready for weeks on end.

"Their devotion to duty has resulted in minimum delays to train traffic. Two women porters have been bombed out of their homes three times but still they turn up for duty with a smile. The husband of one of them is a prisoner of war.

"After another raid one woman porter was trapped in a shelter for three hours but she still reported for duty on time."

On a more positive note, it looked as if the campaign was running out of stream.

"Civilian bomb casualties in August were 1103 killed and 2931 injured, less than half the July figures."