Charles James MOORE

Regimental number2392
Place of birthSydney, New South Wales
SchoolChatswood Public School, New South Wales
ReligionCongregational
OccupationWarehouseman
AddressFrancis Street, Artarmon Street, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21
Height5' 9.25"
Weight158 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Bessie Moore, Francis Street, Artarmon, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date20 May 1915
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name1st Battalion, 7th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/18/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A67 Orsova on 14 July 1915
Rank from Nominal RollCorporal
Unit from Nominal Roll14th Machine Gun Battalion
FateKilled in Action 20 July 1916
Place of death or woundingFleurbaix, France
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
170
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Mother: Mrs Bessie MOORE, 'Sunnyside', Cambridge Road, Artarmon, New South Wales
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 18 October 1915; joined 1st Bn, Gallipoli, 4 November 1915.

Wounded in action, 10 December 1915 (bullet wound, head), and admitted to No 1 Casualty Clearing Station; rejoined Bn, 11 December 1915.

Disembarked Alexandria, 28 December 1915 (general Gallipoli evacuation).

Found guilty, Tel el Kebir, 27 January 1916, of being absent from camp from Tattoo, 23 January, till Tattoo, 25 January 1916: awarded 7 days' Field Punishment No 2, and forfeited 3 days' pay.

Transferred to 53rd Bn, 14 February 1916.

On Command, School of Instruction, Zeitoun, 4 March 1916.

Transferred to 14th Machine Gun Company, 11 March 1916.

Rejoined unit from School of Instruction, 25 March 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 19 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 25 June 1916.

Killed in action, 20 July 1916.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, MOORE Charles James