GERRARD, Charles Francis
| Service Number: | 1355 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 6th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Walhalla, Victoria, 1896 |
| Home Town: | Wodonga, Wodonga, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Driver (horse) |
| Died: | Ryde, NSW, 1969, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemetery & Crematorium |
| Memorials: | Euroa Telegraph Park |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 1355 | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 1355, 13th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 1355, 13th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 11 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Driver, 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column | |
| 3 Nov 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Driver, 6th Field Artillery Brigade |
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GERRARD Charles Francis 1355 DVR
2nd Division Ammunition Column
1896-1969
Charles Gerrard (b 1828) was Charles Francis Gerrard’s grandfather. He migrated from Jamaica via New Zealand aboard Queen of Perth about June 1856 and landed in Melbourne the following December.
From there he and his family must have travelled to the mining town of Walhalla…perhaps Charles came from a mining background and aimed at carrying on with a trade he understood. One of his sons James Frank Gerrard (1864-1944) married Annie Jeanette Lang (1872-1958) in 1890; he was a baker by trade. They raised 11 children, among whom was our soldier, Charles Francis who was born in 1895.
Charles Francis enlisted on 22 July 1915 aged 19, mustered into the 13th Light Horse Regiment and embarked on Ceramic for Egypt. The following March he was transferred to the 2nd Divisional Ammunition Column, part of the 6th Army Brigade as a DVR and posted to Zeitoun. The unit embarked for France in March 1916 where Charles had a series of illnesses and misdemeanours that carried him through the war until he was sent home in 1920.
No service medals were awarded.
Charles married Dorothy Henrietta Harkins in 1920 in Sydney. They settled in Ryde where Charles worked as a tobacconist/hairdresser. He died in 1969 aged 74 and is buried in the Ryde cemetery.
Tree No 42, a Grevillea robusta – Silky Oak – was planted by W Johnstone in 1917.
In 2013 it was still standing.
© 2015 Sheila Burnell