Background
Tovell was born in England and was apprenticed to a builder in 1898.
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Timothy Tovell
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Career
He then became a cabinet maker and did much work for the London gentry. The couple moved to Jandowae near Dalby in Queensland. They were posted to Belgium, and after the war to Bickendorf, Germany as part of the occupying force.
On Christmas Day 1918, a small orphan came begging for food from the Australians at Bickendorf.
The orphan, whose name was probably Honore Hermene (later known as Henri Hermene and other variations), took a liking to Tim, and Tim took a liking to Henri. The boy was rescued by an officer of the British artillery who looked after Henri until the officer too was killed, and Henri wounded.
Henri was treated in a military hospital and eventually discharged where he found his way back to the front lines and again attached himself to a British unit This unit eventually ended up at Bickendorf, and Henri met the Tovell brothers.
The Australian doctor who saw Henri estimated his age at nine.
The Australian squadron adopted Henri as their "mascot", and federal and clothed him. He was given a uniform and made an acting corporal. He was known by the airmen as "Little Digger".
The smuggling required considerable foresight and help from both Australian officers and mentor
The Australian press got hold of the story of the French orphan boy, and on landing Henri was mobbed by well-wishers and the curious. The Tovell brothers declined the offer, and took Henri to Dalby, where he went to school.
Henri attempted to become an Australian citizen, but the French Embassy would not support him doing so until he was 21, and as he could not prove his age, he had great difficulty in enlisting in the Australian air force as he had wished. In 1928, Henri was killed in a motorcycle accident in Melbourne.
After being demobbed (discharged from the military) in 1919, Tim became a builder and lived in Brisbane until his death in 1966 at the age of eighty-eight.
