The AIF Project

Charles HENDRY

Regimental number447
Place of birthDublin, Ireland
SchoolNational School
Age on arrival in Australia20
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationCarpenter
Address18 Wesley Street, South Fremantle, Western Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Height5' 6.25"
Weight137 lbs
Next of kinFather, Wm. Hendry, 18 Wesley Street, South Fremantle, Western Australia
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date5 March 1915
Place of enlistmentPerth, Western Australia
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name28th Battalion, C Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/45/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A11 Ascanius on 29 June 1915
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A36 on 12 July 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll28th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularWorked as a Solicitors Clerk before the start of the War.
FateKilled in Action 14 June 1918
Place of death or woundingMorlancourt, France
Age at death28.6
Age at death from cemetery records28
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
113
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Pdarents: William and Helen HENDRY, 64 Adelaide Street, Fremantle, Western Australia
Other details

War service; Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 4 September 1915. Admitted to 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance, 4 November 1915 (jaundice); transferred to 13th Casualty Clearing Station, 11 November 1915; transferred by HS 'Maheno' to Alexandria, 15 November 1915, and admitted to 15th General Hospital (enteric and jaundice); invalided to England, 4 December 1915, and admitted to Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, 29 January 1916; transferred to Addington Park War Hospital, Croydon, 16 February 1916; discharged, 25 February 1916.

No information entered on Form B103 for period March to mid-November 1916.

Admitted to Fargo Military Hospital, 23 November 1916 (varicose veins); discharged to duty, 27 November 1916. Found guilty, 16 January 1917, of at Rollestone being absent without leave, 9 am, 31 December1916, to 6.30 pm, 15 January 1917: awarded 14 days' confined to camp and forfeited 24 days' pay.

Admitted to 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital, Bulford, 19 January 1917; discharged, 25 April 1917; total period of treatment for venereal disease: 97 days. Found guilty, 6 June 1917, of being absent without leave, Rollestone, midnight, 2 June, till 7 am, 5 June 1917: awarded 3 days' confined to camp and forfeited 6 days' pay. Proceeded overseas to France, 14 June 1917; rejoined Bn, 3 July 1917.

Wounded in action, Belgium, 20 September 1917 (shrapnel wound, thigh), and admitted to 6th Field Ambulance; transferred same day to 17th Casualty Clearing Station and thence to Ambulance Train, and admitted to 3rd Stationary Hospital, Rouen, 21 September 1917; transferred to No 2 Convalescent Depot, 25 September 1917; to No 11 Convalescent Depot, Buchy, 30 September 1917; to 2nd Australian Division Base Depot, Havre, 28 November 1917; rejoined Bn, Belgium, 9 December 1917.

On leave to United Kingdom, 26 February 1918; rejoined unit from leave, 15 March 1918.

Killed in action, France, 14 June 1918.

Buried 1700 yards SW of Morlancourt.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

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