Firns, Charles Glynn
1703A Private Charles Glynn Firns - 28th Battalion AIF
Charles was born in Fremantle 3rd April 1897 to Charles and Eliza Firns, being one of eight siblings. He was the only one of his siblings to be born in Fremantle and appears the family stay in Fremantle was short, with the family mainly linked with Jarrahdale. His Brother Hobart who was killed with the 10th Light Horse Regiment on Gallipoli was born at Jarrahdale as was another older brother George.
After Charles's birth the family moved to serpentine and he completed his education there. After leaving school Charlie took up employment as a Mill Hand.
On the 15th June 1915 Charlie enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was passed as fit for service, with the medical officer recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 5 & 1/2 inches tall;
Weight - 179lbs;
Chest Measurement - 37-39 inches;
Complexion - Fresh;
Eyes - Grey;
Hair -Brown.
After his successful enlistment Charlie was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was assigned to the 2nd Reinforcements to the 28th Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for a few weeks but on the 22nd July 1915 his group left Fremantle Harbour aboard the transport ship Demosthenes. The ship sailed for Egypt, arriving there in August 1915.
Charlie spent a few weeks in Egypt and then in September 1915 set sail for the Dardanelles. He was taken on strength of the 28th Battalion on Gallipoli on the 12th October 1915.
The 28th Battalion were in an area known as the Apex. Charlie served through the rest of the Gallipoli campaign without getting wounded or sick.
With Gallipoli being evacuated in December 1915, Charlie returned with his Battalion to Egypt. They then trained for the next two months.
On the 16th March 1916 the 28th Battalion left Alexandria Egypt aboard a troopship bound for France, and they arrived at Marseilles on the 21st March 1916. After their arrival they were entrained north for the Armentieres sector and the 28th Battalion would have their first experience of Western Front trench life around Bois Greiner and Fleurbaix.
They remained here till June 1916 and were then transferred to the Somme front. The 1st Australian Division had captured Pozieres village on 23rd July 1916 and the 2nd Division, including the 28th Battalion, then came in and attempted to further the gains already made.
On the 29th July 1916 the 28th battalion attempted to capture the strongly held German trench but the area they were attacking along was the highest point of the battlefield and the Germans poured fire into the advancing men. Charlie came through this and the August 4th action in the capture of the windmill position at Pozieres unscathed.
The battalion saw further action at Mouquet Farm in August 1916 and were then sent to Ypres Belgium which was then a quieter part of the front line.
On the 12th October 1916 the 28th Battalion took part in a raid on enemy trenches near Ypres. The raid was successful with prisoner captured, however two men were wounded during the raid, one of which was Charlie. He had been hit by shrapnel in the shoulder and elbow. After being treated at the Field Ambulance, Charlie was sent to the 14th General Hospital at Wimereux.
On the 16th October 1916 Charlie was shipped to England and was admitted to Eastbourne Military Hospital. He remained there until the 22nd November 1916 when he was transferred to the 2nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Wareham. He spent three days there and was then transferred to No.4 Command Depot Camp at Wareham.
Due to his wounds Charlie was temporarily marked as medically unfit for service so he spent the next few months in England. In March 1917 hew as transferred to a newly forming unit called the 70th battalion. This was a unit of the new 6th Division that was forming in England.
Charlie trained with the 70th Battalion through to September 1917 but due to the lack of reinforcements available, the 6th Division was disbanded and the men returned to their original units. On the 20th October 1917 Charlie was taken back on strength of the 28th Battalion.
The 28th Battalion were then in Belgium holding the front line near Broodseinde Ridge and Passchendaele.
In December 1917 the 28th Battalion were shifted south east of Ypres and they held the front line between Hollebeke and Messines. They would be in this sector till March 1918.
On the 19th January 1918 Charlie was given a weeks leave to Paris and then returned to his unit after an enjoyable leave.
On March 21st 1918 the Germans broke through the British front further south and the Australian divisions were sent to the Somme region to help stop this German advance.
John and the 28th Battalion came into contact with the Germans around Dernancourt in April 1918 and were in this region for a few weeks before moving to Ville sur Ancre.
They spent the next few months in the vicinity of Morlancourt, fighting a large battle there on June 10th 1918. They were then moved to the Villers-Bretonneux sector and captured Monument Wood near Villers-Bretonneux in July 1918.
Charlie served with his unit through the next month, and participated in the August 8th attack from Villers-Bretonneux which smashed through the German lines.
The 28th Battalion participated in several actions over the next few weeks, most notably at Peronne and Mont St Quentin. On the 2nd September 1918 near Mont St Quentin, Charlie was wounded in the arm and thigh by shrapnel. After initial treatment at the 14th Field Ambulance and 53rd Casualty Clearing Station, Charlie was sent to Rouen where hew as admitted to the 9th General Hospital.
Charlie spent a few days in Rouen and then was sent to England on the hospital ship Western Australia. After the ship arrived in England, Charlie was sent to the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham. He was in hospital there till the 14th October 1918. Charlie was now well enough to be given a two week furlough.
On the 28th October 1918 Charlie reported into No.4 Command Depot Camp in Hurdcott. He had been marked as medically unfit for further service and so remained at this camp while waiting to be assigned to a transport ship home. He was still here when the Armistice was announced on the 11th November 1918.
Charlie must have enjoyed the celebration as he went absent without leave on the 12th/13th November 1918. Fortunately he only had to forfeit one days pay as a punishment.
Charlie remained at No.4 Camp at Hurdcott till January 1919. On the 16th January 1919 he boarded the transport ship Demosthenes, which coincidentally was the ship that brought him from Fremantle in 1915.
Charlie returned to Fremantle on the 22nd February 1919. He was discharged from the AIF on the 20th April 1919.
Charlie had spent some time at No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle on his return before heading back to Jarrahdale.
In 1922 he was married in Fremantle to Myrtle Annette Immaculate Box.
They lived in Fremantle and then Serpentine where Charlie resumed his employment as a mill hand. A son Reginald was born in Fremantle in 1923, followed by Robert in 1926 and Laurel in 1926.
In the 1930's he became a miner when the family moved to Kalgoorlie. They were here through to the 1950's when they retired to Melville
In the 1960's they were living at Halse Crescent Melville.
In 1967 from his Halse Street property, Charles wrote to the authorities to claim his Anzac Medallion
His wife Myrtle died on the 11th September 1969 and Glyn died on the 16th March 1978 at Mt Pleasant aged 80. He was buried at Fremantle Cemetery plot Roman Catholic LawnA 0079.