| Regimental number | 3182 |
| Place of birth | Wynyard, Tasmania |
| School | State School, Tasmania |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Occupation | Farm labourer |
| Address | Somerset, Tasmania |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 19 |
| Height | 5' 5" |
| Weight | 124 lbs |
| Next of kin | Mother, Mrs E M Upchurch, Somerset, Tasmania |
| Previous military service | Served for 18 months in the Senior Cadets, Wynyard and Beaconsfield; 'evaded service'. |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 12th Battalion, 10th Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/29/3 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Corporal |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 52nd Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of death or wounding | France |
| Age at death | 20 |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 20 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 29), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 156 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Ernest and Emily Margaret UPCHURCH, Somerset, Tasmania. Native of Wynyard |
| Medals |
Military Medal 'For gallantry and devotion to duty. On the 11th April 1917 near REINCOURT after the withdrawal from the HINDENBURG LINE these men [2645 T.W. FOLKARD, 5077 H.B. DICK; 2158 T. DOBE, 2450 J. HOARE, 235 N.G. HATTON, 1875A A.C. ONIONS, 3970 R.C. HOLDEN, 3182 C.E. UPCHURCH, 1747 T. SEE] under the command of Lieutenant JULIN of 52 Battalion volunteered in spite of continuous machine gun and artillery fire, to go out into NO MAN'S LAND and collect wounded. At first they go a hostile reception but ultimately by their persistency and determination, they were permitted to carry on unmolested till dark. In this manner they saved the lives of many who would otherwise have perished in the snow. Two of the number were killed but undetermined the remainder stuck to their task until darkness put a stop to their work. They showed magnificent coolness and gallantry and untiring energy in their difficult task.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 169 Date: |
| Family/military connections | Brother: 2923 Pte Andrew UPCHURCH, 12th Bn, killed in action, 6-10 April 1917. |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Western Front Taken on strength, 52nd Bn, Tel el Kebir, 3 March 1916. Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 5 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 12 June 1916. Appointed Lance Corporal, 10 April 1917. Awarded the Military Medal. Promoted Corporal, 19 June 1917. Killed in action, 16 July 1917. Medals: Military Medal, British War Medal, Victory Medal Mother wrote to Base Records, July 1920: 'Just a line letting you know that I am the only Blood relation who has anything to do with my Son the Late Charles E. Upchurch ... It is just 17 years this month since he lost his father and we have fought our own battles ever since. His will left all he had to me his Mother who worked hard to rear both the late Charles E. Upchurch also his Brother Andrew Upchurch Private who also gave His all the the Great War cause.' |