The AIF Project

Charles Claude DALEY

Regimental number6297
Place of birthHickey's Creek, New South Wales
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationFarmer
AddressBurra Pine, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21
Height5' 10"
Weight178 lbs
Next of kinFather, E. Daley, Burra Pine PO, Taylors Arms Nambucca River, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date24 October 1916
Place of enlistmentSydney, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name17th Battalion, 18th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/34/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A29 Suevic on 11 November 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll33rd Battalion
FateKilled in Action 30 August 1918
Age at death from cemetery records23
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
122
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Mr E. and Mrs M.A.E. DALEY. Born at Burrapine, New South Wales
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 11 November 1916; disembarked Devonport, England, 30 January 1917, and marched into 5th Training Bn, Rollestone, the same day.

Admitted to Military Hospital, Endell Street, London, 11 February 1917 (influenza); discharged, 27 February 1917; marched into 5th Training Bn, Rollestone, 28 February 1917.

Transferred to 3rd Bn, 18 April 1917.

Transferred to, and taken on strength of 62nd Bn, Windmill Hill, 28 April 1917.

Marched out of 62nd Bn, 19 September 1917, and transferred to 17th Bn the same day; marched into 61st Draft Bn, Fovant, 21 September 1917.

Marched into Overseas Training Bde, Longbridge Deverill, 19 October 1917.

Marched out to No 1 Command Depot, 23 October 1917.

Classified 'A3', 30 October 1917.

Marched out of No 1 Command Depot, Sutton Veny, 4 January 1918; marched into 14th Training Bn, Codford, 6 January 1918.

Proceeded overseas to France, 5 February 1918; marched into Australian Intermediate Base Depot, Le Havre, 6 February 1918.

Proceeded to unit, 7 February 1918; taken on strength of 33rd Bn, 12 February 1918.

Wounded in action, 18 April 1918, and admitted to No 5 Casualty Clearing Station the same day (gassed); transferred to No 6 General Hospital, Rouen, 20 April 1918; to England, 27 April 1918; to Norfolk War Hospital, 28 April 1918; to No 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, 16 May 1918; discharged, 16 May 1918, and marched into No 3 Command Depot, Hurdcott, the same day.

Marched into Overseas Training Bde, Longbridge Deverill, 18 July 1918.

Proceeded overseas to France, 15 August 1918; marched into Australian Intermediate Base Depot, Le Havre, 16 August 1918.

Proceeded to unit, 18 August 1918; rejoined 33rd Bn, 21 August 1918.

Posted as missing in action, 30 August 1918.

Court of Enquiry, Chepy, 23 February 1919, pronounces fate as 'Killed in Action, 30 August 1918'.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DALEY Charles Claude

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