Kjellgren, Ernest Frederick Charles

4013 Private Ernest Frederick Charles Kjellgren - 51st Battalion AIF

Ernest Frederick Charles Kjellgren was born in Mount Barker South Australia in 1883 to Ernst and Caroline Kjellgren. He was one of a few siblings and grew up in South Australia before moving to live in Fremantle Western Australia where he found employment with the WA Government Railways as a locomotive driver. In 1906 Ernest was living at 15 Tuckfield Street Fremantle.

In 1910 Ernest married Eliza Luly in Fremantle and a daughter Ida was born in 1910 and Ernest in 1913. The family were living at 35 Mandurah Road South Fremantle.

On the 13th August 1917 Ernest enlisted at the Fremantle recruitment office into the Australian Imperial Force. He was passed as fit for service with the medical examiner recording Ernest's physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 6 inches tall;

Weight - 150lbs;

Chest Measurement - 35-37 inches;

Complexion - Fresh;

Eyes - Grey;

Hair - Brown.

After his successful enlistment Ernest was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was initially assigned to an infantry training depot. It was here that Ernest would learn the basics of soldiering. On the 8th September 1917 he was then assigned to the 11th Reinforcements to the 51st Battalion. This group was sent to Victoria to complete their training and on the 30th October 1917 Ernest and his group boarded the transport ship HMAT Aeneas and set sail for England, reaching Devenport Harbour on the 27th December 1917.

After reaching England, Ernest and his group were sent to the 13th Training Battalion at Codford Camp on the Salisbury Plains. It was here that Ernest had a group photo taken with some of his mates from the reinforcement group. (Photo below - Ernest pictured front row-second left. Malcolm Higham from Fremantle pictured back row on right)

Ernest trained in England for the first three months of 1918. On the 1st April 1918 he boarded a troopship which took him across the Channel to France and on the 6th April he was taken on strength of the 51st Battalion. The 51st Battalion were then in the line at Dernancourt against the Germans.

Ernest had only been in the line six days when he fell ill and he was evacuated back to hospital with debility. He was admitted to the 2/1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham and on the 26th April 1918 was transferred to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield. A week later Ernest was sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth where he would wait for a transport ship home as he had been declared medically unfit for further service.

On the 17th June 1918 Ernest boarded a troopship for the journey home to Australia, disembarking in Fremantle on the 8th August 1918. Ernest was discharged from the AIF on the 4th September 1918.

After the war the family lived at 71 Oakover Street East Fremantle and in the 1930's moved to 18 Glyde Street.

On the 20th August 1940, Ernest enlisted in the Second World War and served at Perth, Northam and Fremantle. Initially assigned to the training battalions, Ernest was then assigned to the 66th Anti Aircraft Battery in Fremantle and was then transferred to the Heavy Artillery. On the 4th April 1943 Ernest was discharged as medically unfit for further service.

Just a few months later on the 2nd July 1943 Ernest Kjellgren died in hospital in Perth aged 60. He was buried at Fremantle Cemetery.

His son Ernest was also serving in the Australian Army in WW2 (WX25797) as a Lieutenant in the Australian Artillery but he survived the war.