Charles Alfred GAGE

GAGE, Charles Alfred

Service Number: 3558
Enlisted: 11 March 1916, Forbes, New South Wales
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 56th Infantry Battalion
Born: Eugowra, New South Wales, Australia, 30 August 1891
Home Town: Eugowra, Cabonne, New South Wales
Schooling: Eugowra Public School, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation: Labourer
Died: Killed in Action, Guedecourt, France, 3 December 1916, aged 25 years
Cemetery: AIF Burial Ground, Grass Lane, Flers
Grave IV. L. 30 INSCRIPTION SUNSHINE PASSES, SHADOWS FALL, BUT LOVE AND REMEMBRANCE OUTLAST ALL R.I.P. WIRADJURI MAN
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Eugowra War Memorial, Parkes & District Cenotaph, Trundle WWI Roll of Honour
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World War 1 Service

11 Mar 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3558, 30th Infantry Battalion, Forbes, New South Wales
5 Aug 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3558, 30th Infantry Battalion,

--- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: ''

5 Nov 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3558, 30th Infantry Battalion, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17
3 Dec 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3558, 56th Infantry Battalion, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3558 awm_unit: 56th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-12-03

Help us honour Charles Alfred Gage's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Evan Evans

From François Berthout
 
Today, under the morning sun which comes to lays its rays on the old battlefields of the Somme, I wish to put in the light the name and the destiny of a man among millions, of a man who, like his comrades and his brothers in arms, answered the call of duty to come and fight on the soil of France for which they did and gave so much, they were young and, listening only to their hearts and their courage, gave their today to give us a tomorrow. They gave their youth and their lives and rest in peace under the poppies which grow and bloom between the rows of their immaculate white graves that the light of history and of Remembrance comes to illuminate to make them live again in our hearts and in our thoughts, gone but not forgotten, they stand by our side, under the cross of sacrifice and in the light so that they will never be forgotten.Today, it is with deep gratitude that I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 3558 Charles Alfred Gage who fought in the 56th Australian Infantry Battalion and who was killed in action 104 years ago,on December 3, 1916 at the age of 25 on the Somme front.

Charles Alfred Gage was born on August 30, 1891 in Eugowra, New South Wales, and was the son of Christopher Henry and Mary Gage (née Sloane), of Sir Joseph Baker Street, Bankstown, New South Wales,and he had a brother, Christopher Henry Gage (with the same name as their father). Charles was educated at Eugowra Public School and after his studies, worked as a labourer.
Enlisted on March 11, 1916 in Forbes, New South Wales, he joined the Bathurst camp then joined the 30th Australian Infantry Battalion, 8th reinforcement in Kiama, New South Wales. Charles embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A70 Ballarat on August 5, 1916 and sailed for England where he arrived on September 30, 1916 in Plymouth to complete his training. On November 12, 1916,Charles embarked from Folkestone and sailed for France on board SS Onward and was disembarked the next day at Etaples. Charles was then transferred to the 56th Australian Infantry Battalion on November 29, 1916 and was sent to the Somme front on December 1.
Unfortunately, two days later, on the night of December 3, 1916, while he was on the front line at Gueudecourt, he was killed in the explosion of a shell which fell near him and which also killed several of his comrades, he was 25 years old and his body was not found.

initially unidentified, the name of Charles Alfred Gage was inscribed on the Australian memorial of Villers-Bretonneux. Charles's brother, Christopher, who fought in the 54th Australian Infantry Battalion, erected a grave that did not bear Private Gage's name but did have details of his battalion.

Recently, researchers were able to identify who the grave belonged to when they determined Private Gage was the only soldier to die on December 3, 1916 who also had a brother in the 54th Battalion.
Unfortunately, Charles's brother, Lance Corporal number 2158 Christopher Henri Gage was killed in action during the battle of Polygon Wood on September 20, 1917 at the age of 29 and rests in peace in the New Irish Farm Cemetery,Ypres.His grave bears the following inscription "Have mercy on him lord and let perpetual light shine upon him".
Private Charles Alfred Gage, whose grave was finally identified, now rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the A.I.F.Burial Ground, Flers, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "Sunshine Passes, shadows fall, but love and remembrance outlast all, RIP Wiradjuri man".

In January 1918 the Forbes Advocate reported that Charles’ father had been charged with being “of unsound mind”, and was to be admitted to Parramatta Mental Hospital. A witness reported that “Gage’s two son’s had been killed in the war, and ever since then he had not been the same man.”

Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester said the brothers were two of at least 1000 indigenous Australians who served in World War I, despite restrictions around their enlistment. "Indigenous Australians have served our nation in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations since the Boer War in South Africa from 1899-1902," he said. "The deaths of the Gage brothers are symbolic of the tremendous service Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women have made in defence of our country for more than a century. Private Gage's grave will now be marked with a headstone bearing his name and service details at his final resting place in Flers, France".

Mr Chester thanked researchers from Fallen Diggers Incorporated, who worked to put a name to the soldier. "Private Gage is the 27th previously-unknown Australian World War I soldier the group has helped identify, bringing closure to the families of our fallen, and allowing us all to know the name and history of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice," he said.

Charles, on this day I stand in front of you to honor your memory and to say thank you with all my heart, you who were so young but who despite everything, answered the call of duty under the Australian flag, your country for which, without hesitation and without fear, have joined the ranks of your friends and of an entire generation who walked courageously and crossed the oceans to come and join your brothers in arms on the soils of France, far from home and from your families, you have walked without ever looking back, with a valiant heart, a head held high and a courageous spirit, all united by a bond of camaraderie in the heart of the muddy trenches, all determined by an admirable perseverance under the fire of cannons and machine guns, they lived through hell but still had a sense of humor, their smiles that saw the French people for whom they fought and with whom they forged very strong bonds, sincere friendships, they were the light and the hope after so much suffering.Young and brave, they marched towards their destinies, towards the battlefields which took so many lives every day, they held on for each meter, for each position, they fought like devils, with bravery, with determination for a country they did not know very well but for which they gave their youth, their courage, their convictions, for which they gave their all , for a country that is today and always will be theirs. Under bullets and shells, they never gave up and showed the determination of all of Australia, of a united people and it is together that they moved forward, bayonets forward under a deluge of bullets which mowed down their ranks but not their courage.Through shrapnel and barbed wire,they paid for every step forward with terrible losses and saw the blood of their friends flow on the poppies and the bruised land of the Somme, they saw hell on earth and were marked by the horrors they went through wondering every days if this would be their last with the deep fear of never seeing the sun rise again, despite their fears, despite the horrors, the pains and the sufferings they endured, they all did their duty with devotion, with courage, beyond what a man can give and do.Many did not have the chance to return to their homes and after Pozieres, Mouquet farm, Villers-Bretonneux, Gueudecourt, Flers, Amiens, so many battles in which the Australians showed their bravery, they paid, alongside their brothers in arms, enormous sacrifices, they paid the greatest sacrifice, that of their lives and today rest in peace here, in the peaceful and flowery cemeteries of the Somme, they are and always will be at home here and we will always watch over them with very deep gratitude, with all our love and devotions, they will always be in our care and will always be loved and honored like our sons, like our children, France will never forget, the Somme will never forget their courage and their sacrifices.I would always be honored and proud to be their guardian, I will always do everything I can for each of them and for their families, with all my heart, with all my energy to put a face, a story behind their names who, eternal, will always be engraved in stone and in our hearts so that they live forever, so that they are never forgotten, I will not forget any of them until my last breath and will be forever, with a lot of tenderness in the heart "my boys of the Somme".Thank you Charles, for all that you and your brother have done for us, you can rest in peace knowing that you have done all that a man can do, not just for his country, but for humanity, for peace, we will never forget you, your names will live on forever.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them,now and forever. 

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Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon

56th Bn.Australian Infantry, A.I.F.

He was 25 and the son of Christopher Henry and Mary Gage, of Sir Joseph Baker St., Bankstown, New South Wales.

Biography

Brother of 2158 L/Cpl. Christopher Henry Gage (/explore/people/116241) Killed in Action 26 Sep 1917 in Belgium