Davis, Charles

3756 Private Charles Davis - 33rd Battalion AIF

Charles Davis was born in Glenferrie Victoria in December 1895. Charlie was educated in Victoria though unfortunately his father died while he was still young. In the late 1900’s he moved with his mother to Western Australia where she became an assistant matron at the Woman’s Home in Finnerty Street Fremantle. This was the old asylum building which in 1909 had been converted to an old woman’s home. At the present time this gothic architecture building is the site of the Fremantle Arts Centre. Charlie found employment locally in the Fremantle area as a Driver and he also served in the local Militia forces. Initially Charlie served with the 88^th Infantry Citizens Military Forces but then he transferred to the 22^nd Company Army Medical Corps. Due to his medical experience in November 1915 Charlie was mobilised for home service duty with No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle. Charlie’s duties may have included driving the patients around as seen in this photo of No.8 AGH. He would only spend two months on duty here on home service as in January 1916 he asked to be demobilised so he could enlist in the AIF.

As he was only twenty years old he still needed his mothers consent to enlist, which she duly signed. With consent form and good conduct reference from Lt-Colonel Hadley of the 8^th Australian General Hospital in hand; Charlie presented himself to the Swan Barracks in Perth. The medical examiner found Charlie to be fit for service and he recorded his medical attributes as;

Height:                              5 feet 7 & ½ inches;

Weight:                              148lbs;

Chest Measurement:          35-37 inches;

Complexion:                      Dark;

Eyes:                                 Greenish Grey;

Hair:                                  Dark;

Religious Denomination:    Congregational;

Distinctive Marks:              Scar Shoulder.

After his successful enlistment Charlie was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.45 Training Depot. He would only have a few days at this depot for on the 23^rd of January he was assigned to the 15^th Reinforcements to the 10^th Light Horse Regiment with the regimental no.2264. Through February & March 1916 Charlie trained with his reinforcement group in WA while they waited for their embarkation orders to arrive. These finally came and on the 1^st April 1916 the 15^th Reinforcements to the 10^th Light Horse boarded the HMAT Ulysses in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for Egypt.

After arriving at Suez Charlie and his group were disembarked and sent to the 3^rd Training Regiment on the 26^th April 1916. Charlie would remain here for the next two months as it wasn’t until the 23^rd June that he was transferred to the 3^rd Double Squadron. This was a unit of the 3^rd Light Horse Brigade, made up of excess reinforcements for the 8^th, 9^th & 10^th Light Horse Regiments. Later in 1916 many of these men would be sent on to form part of the Imperial Camel Corps. However by then Charlie was on his way home to Australia.

On the 29^th August 1916 he had reported sick and was sent to the 3^rd Welsh Field Ambulance. On the 4^th September 1916 he was transferred to the 26^th Stationary Hospital at Ismailia. Four days later Charlie was transferred to No.3 Australian General Hospital in Cairo where he was diagnosed with general debility and cardiac concerns. Charlie would spend the next two months in hospital but as his condition had not improved, on the 21^st November 1916 he was put aboard the HT Ayrshire, eventually arriving in Melbourne on the 25^th December 1916. After a further period in hospital Charlie was discharged from the AIF on the 23^rd March 1917. It appears that he was granted a pension for short time of 60/- per fortnight though this was cancelled later in 1917.

Charlie soon travelled to NSW for he enlisted for the second time in Sydney on the 19^th July 1917, though there was no mention of his previous service. Charlie was now 21 years old and his mother, Emma Hanson of Fremantle was still his next of kin. He gave his occupation as a clerk and address as c/o Ellis Coffee Palace in Sydney. At the Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Charlie was given a medical examination, though he had grown a bit since the previous year. The medical officer recorded Charlie’s physical attributes as;

Height:                                         5 feet 8 inches;

Weight:                                        150lbs;

Chest Measurement:                    34-37 inches;

Complexion:                                 Fair;

Eyes:                                           Grey;

Hair:                                            Brown;

Religious Denomination:               Presbyterian

Distinctive Marks:                         Birth Mark.

After his successful enlistment Charlie was sent to Liverpool Camp where he was firstly assigned to “E” Company of the 1^st Depot Battalion. On the 2^nd August 1917 he was transferred to the 10^th Reinforcements to the 53^rd Battalion AIF with the regimental number 3756. The same day as his allotment Charlie boarded the HMAT Miltiades with his reinforcement group and set sail from Sydney. After a two month sea voyage the ship arrived at Glasgow Scotland on the 2^nd October 1917.

The men were then disembarked and sent down to the 14^th Training Battalion at Hurdcott Camp. Charlie remained at the 14^th Training Battalion until the end of 1917. On the 7^th January 1918 he was admitted to the camp hospital at Codford suffering from measles. He had twelve days in hospital and returned to the 14^th Training Battalion on the 19^th January 1918. Charlie would spend another two weeks in camp but on the 6^th February 1918 he was put in a draft of men for France. After his arrival, Charlie was sent to the Australian Infantry Base Depot at Rouelles.

It was while he was at the depot that Charlie was reallotted to a new unit. Instead of joining the 53^rd Battalion, he would join the 33^rd Battalion on the 12^th February 1918. The 33^rd Battalion were at then in camp at Kortepyp. For the next month Charlie would see action with his Battalion in the front lines of the Warneton/Messines sector. In early March 1918 the Battalion was sent for a rest out of the line though they would soon be recalled. On March 21^st 1918 the Germans launched their Spring Offensive which broke through the Third and Fifth British Armies and were capturing much territory. The 3^rd & 4^th Australian Divisions were soon sent to bring the German offensive to a halt. By March 28^th the 33^rd Battalion were in positions at Corbie and the following day they moved to Aubigny, then Cachy, near Villers-Bretonneux.

On the 30^th March 1918 the 33^rd Battalion was involved in the Battle of Hangard Wood. It was in this action that Charlie was wounded in the arm. He was evacuated to the 9^th Field Ambulance for treatment and he was then forwarded on to the 41^st Casualty Clearing Station. From the 41^st CCS Charlie was put on an ambulance train and sent to the 11^th Stationary Hospital at Rouen. He only had a day here as on the 2^nd April 1918 Charlie was transferred to England where he was admitted to the 4^th Canadian General Hospital at Basingstoke. Charlie would remain under treatment here for the next several weeks and on the 28^th May he was transferred to the 1^st Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield. Two days later Charlie was given a period of furlough and was told to report to No.1 Command Depot at Sutton Veny on the 18^th June 1918. It appears that Charlie was kept on duty at Sutton Veny for the remainder of the war as he was not medically fit enough to return to France.

On the 14^th January 1919 Charlie boarded the City of York and returned to Australia, arriving in Melbourne on the 27^th February 1919. Charlie Davis was discharged from the AIF on the 22^nd March 1919.