Ernest Humphrey Scott enlisted on 25 January 1916 in Melbourne. He gave his next of kin as his wife, Jessie Gladys Scott of 43 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne. He gave his occupation as motor engineer. He had had a year's military experience with the Overseas Rifle Club, Melbourne. He was described as 5ft. 6ins. with a fresh complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. He embarked on 5 June 1916 on HMAT Afric disembarking at Southampton on 2 July 1916. He proceeded to France on 25 November 1916. He was promoted to Corporal on 31 January 1917. He served in France until 1918. He had continuing problems with haemorrhoids and had several trips to hospital.
He was officially discharged in London on 31 August 1919 as medically unfit. He had already sailed from Liverpool to New York on 9 August 1919. Writing from Chicago in 1920 Scott requested from Australian Headquarters an official record of the 'mention' in Army Routine Orders. He was told that no such record existed. He wrote again enclosing his own handwritten copy taken on the night of the event, 20 July 1917. This is what it said:-
The army commander wishes to express his appreciation for the gallant conduct of M11899 Corporal H. Scott, 3rd Australian Divisional Supply Column under the following circumstances:- On 3 July 1917, a horse attached to a gunners' cart was frightened by anti-aircraft battery in action and bolted towards a square in town in which, at the summit, a great deal of traffic was moving. Corporal E.H. Scott, at great personal risk, ran after it and caught the runaway, thus averting a serious accident.
The official, briefer version was soon found and forwarded to him.
In his Application for a Discharge in a Country other than Australia Scott had stated 'am inventor and patentee in principal countries of an apparatus for instantly locating internal combustion troubles. The Australian and N.Z. patents I have already disposed of to an Australian syndicate, agreement under which they were sold attached. My brother has organised a company in U.S.A. in which I hold principal interest and we have a factory for the manufacture of apparatus at Chicago, and sales office etc.
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Below is, 'A brief history of Mr. E. H. (Ernest Humphrey) Scott' by Kent King E. H. Scott Collector & Historian Radnor, OH, received by email.
Scott was born in New Zealand, June 1, 1887. His father went to Australia for work, but was killed in a railroad accident in 1892. His mother died about 10 years later. He married Jessie Gladys Tucker in New Zealand in 1912 and I believe they moved to Australia soon afterward. He enlisted in 1916 and served in France until 1918. I know that he worked in a truck unit, driving and repairing vehicles. Scott developed a testing device he called the Telecator.
In 1919 he traveled to the US and went to Chicago. Early in 1920, Jessie joined him there. I know that her travel papers show she arrived from New Zealand (not Australia), so I suspect that the two of them did not live in East Melbourne for more than a few years before the war began.
Scott sold the rights to the Telecator to the US Army and used that money to start a radio business (a "new" big thing in the 1920s). He was very successful and built very expensive, custom-built radios for exclusive buyers. His company built radios in support of WW II, and he was a long-time supporter of the ANZAC service members in the Chicago area. After WW II ended, he sold the radio company and he and Jessie moved to Victoria, BC, Canada. Scott died there in 1951, and Jessie passed less than two years later.
Kent King, email 14 June 2013
Alan B Scott, email 21 January 2014