Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Frederick and Marian TRAXLER, of 16, Barnsbury Rd., Barnsbury, London, England. Native of Islington, London.

#4589  TRAXLER Charles Edwin  9th Battalion / 11th Field Artillery
 
Charles Traxler was born in the London Borough of Islington to parents Frederick and Marion Traxler. According to Charles’ father, his son attended a national school, but given the family’s circumstances, Charles’ education was probably rudimentary at best.
 
During the latter half of the 19th Century, many poor and working class people from inner London settled in Islington. The area became just one of a number of Victorian slums. It was probably in this environment that young Charles came into contact with the Church Army, a branch of the Anglican Church which ministered to the poor and destitute. The Church Army was just one of a number of schemes in England from about 1900 onwards which provided training and placement for young men to be employed in rural pursuits predominately in Canada and Australia. William attended a farm school in Essex before joining a group of boys who would sail to Australia on the S.S. Orvieto.
 
The Orvieto was scheduled to sail from London to Brisbane but due to a dock strike was diverted to Sydney. Charles landed in Sydney on 29th February 1912. The passenger manifest lists his age as 18 years. Upon arrival in Brisbane, the Lads’ Immigration Bureau of the Church Army which had headquarters in Charlotte Street, arranged placement in a suitable situation. It is likely that Charles, once stablished, worked at various farm labouring jobs in the Brisbane Valley and South Burnett. The Roll of Honour Circular completed by Charles’ father records he was associated with the “Ferndale” district but this is more likely to “Fernvale.”
 
Charles travelled to Brisbane by train and attended the recruiting depot in Adelaide Street on 7th September 1915. He stated his age as 21 years and 6 months and occupation as farm labourer. After a short time in a depot battalion at Enoggera, Charles was allocated to the 14th reinforcements of the 9th Infantry Battalion. He embarked on the “Wandilla” in Brisbane on 31st January 1916 and disembarked at Alexandria, Egypt on 5th March.
 
During the early part of 1916, the AIF in Egypt was being doubled in size, taking advantage of the large number of reinforcements present in the camps along the Suez Canal. When Charles reported to the transit depot at Serapeum, he was transferred to the 11th Field Artillery Brigade as a gunner. On 10th June, the 11thFAB arrived in Marseilles and made their way to the British Artillery Depot at Camiers on the French Channel Coast where the gunners took delivery of brand new 18 pounder field guns with limber and a team of six horses.
 
For the remainder of 1916, the 11th FAB supported actions by the Australian Infantry at Pozieres, Mouquet Farm, Flers and Bapaume. With the coming of winter, which proved to be one of the coldest in almost 40 years, the AIF struggled with the elements. Battle casualties fell but sickness and injury from frostbite rose. The gunners continued to engage in harassing fire against enemy gun emplacements on almost daily basis. Probably due to the hard physical nature of the work in the gun lines, Charles reported sick with a case of synovitis to the knee (often called water on the knee). He was not fit for duty until late March 1917.
 
After the less than successful Somme campaign in 1916, British planning turned to Belgium and the Ypres salient in 1917. The Flanders campaign would begin in June at Messines. The 11th FAB had an important role supporting the 3rd and 4th Australian Divisions at Messines, where overwhelming artillery fire was decisive in gaining new ground. In September 1917, the 11th FAB were again called up to support units of the 4th Division at Menin Road and Polygon Wood. While in the gun lines in front of Polygon Wood on 26thSeptember, Charles received a gunshot wound to the head from a German machine gun.
 
Charles was evacuated by ambulance train to the Australian General Hospital at Rouen and then onto the hospital ship “H.S. Princess Elizabeth” for a journey to the 2nd South General Hospital in Bristol. Upon his discharge from Bristol on 3rd December, Charles was granted the customary two week furlough. He probably took advantage of this leave to visit his family who were still living in London.
 
On his return from leave, Charles reported to the convalescent depot at Hurdcott and then transferred to the overseas training brigade at Heytesbury where he trained as a signaller. On the 1st February 1918, Charles was taken on strength by the 11th Field Artillery in winter quarters at Poperinghe in Belgium. For the next few weeks, the gunners engaged in general harassing fire against the enemy. In late March, the situation on the Western Front changed significantly when the Germans launched Operation Michael.
 
The collapse of the Russian Front, brought about by the October 1917 revolution, freed up 60 divisions of troops that the German Commander could redeploy to the Western Front. Ludendorff chose the demarcation between the British and French armies in the Picardy Region of Northern France as the weak point into which he would put his newly trained stormtroopers. The attack began on the 21st March and the British 5thArmy was unable to hold the assault. As the British fell back, often in complete disarray, the road was open to the vital communication hub of Amiens.
 
Sensing the extreme threat, The British Commander Douglas Haig ordered four of the five divisions of the AIF south from Belgium to take up a defensive line in front of Amiens. The 11th Field Artillery, attached to the 10th and 11th Infantry Brigades hastily limbered up their 18 pounders and howitzers and joined the rush south, taking up blocking positions just west of Albert.
 
Reports from witnesses to the Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Service stated that the battery to which Charles was attached was dug in on a line near Millencourt on 5th April 1918 when they were targeted by German heavy artillery. Charles and another man were repairing a broken telephone cable in the open when a shell burst beside them, killing both instantly. Both bodies were transported back to the wagon lines where they were buried in the Frechencourt Cemetery, along with twelve other gunners from the 11th FAB who were killed in the same action.
 
The Brigade Chaplain conducted the ceremony and although there were no wooden crosses erected, a fence was placed around the 14 graves and the names of the fallen were carved into the fence railing. At the conclusion of the war, Charles’ family chose the following inscription for his headstone: GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.