At the Bullecourt Digger Memorial on Anzac Day, the commemorative address took on an unexpectedly personal meaning for one family standing in the crowd.

The address was delivered by Chief of Joint Capabilities Lieutenant General Susan Coyle, who spoke of courage, loss and the bonds of service, reflecting on the sacrifice and endurance of Australians who fought in the brutal battles of Bullecourt in 1917. 

As part of the address, Lieutenant General Coyle told the story of Lance Corporal Henrick Johansen, a 22-year-old signaller who was wounded and left behind in the chaos of battle, his whereabouts uncertain for months.

Unbeknown to her, as Lieutenant General Coyle spoke of the anguish carried by families and the enduring weight of not knowing the fate of those lost on the battlefield, members of Lance Corporal Johansen’s family were in the audience. 

Julia and Rick Deeks had travelled from Ipswich in the United Kingdom to attend Anzac Day commemorations in the Somme, retracing the footsteps of Ms Deeks’ great-great-uncle, who was killed in action on May 3, 1917. 

With no known grave, his name is inscribed at the Australian National Memorial. Every year, Ms Deeks honours his memory, this year by visiting Bullecourt with a golden plaque to be left at the digger memorial. 

'But hearing his name, and everyone hearing his name … it makes him real. It makes him remembered.'

Still visibly emotional after the service, Ms Deeks said she was not expecting their family’s story to be read during the address.

“We didn’t know this was going to happen,” she said. 

“[My husband and I] looked at each other when his name was said, like ‘This is happening’.

“There could be so many Henricks, so many missing, with no known grave. It’s comforting that their stories still matter.

“I always think about him sort of lost here in the mud somewhere. But hearing his name, and everyone hearing his name … it makes him real. It makes him remembered.”

Her husband concurred.

“To hear that story told, and for everyone else to understand who he was, it was wonderful. It just hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Mr Deeks said.

The story of Lance Corporal Johansen has lived quietly within their family for generations. Ms Deeks recalled how her mother would speak of him often, and of the heartbreak felt by his own mother, who never learned what became of her son.

“For nine months, they hoped he’d been taken prisoner,” Ms Deeks said. 

“That maybe he was in a hospital, or being cared for somewhere. That hope lasted a long time.”

'One hundred and nine years later, and they still care so much.'

That sense of unresolved loss is something Lieutenant General Coyle acknowledged in her address, reflecting on the uncertainty faced by so many families of the missing. 

She also emphasised that service did not end with time; that those who served remained part of the Defence family, and were always remembered.

The family first visited Bullecourt the year before, drawn by a desire to better understand their history. Since then, Ms Deeks has extensively researched Lance Corporal Johansen’s story, uncovering accounts from fellow soldiers and Red Cross files that paint a picture of a well-liked and courageous young man.

“He was described as, ‘The best pal I have had in the Army’,” she said.  

“You can just tell the kind of person he was.”

Their journey has also been shaped by the kindness of the local French community, who continue to care for the memory of Australian soldiers more than a century on.

“They keep it alive,” Ms Deeks said.  

“One hundred and nine years later, and they still care so much.”

The experience of standing on the ground where her great-great-uncle fought and hearing his story shared evoked sorrow and pride.

“If I could say anything to him today, it would be, ‘We all love you. No one forgot you’,” Ms Deeks said.