Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Charlie Beaver is one of the best men I have had the privilege of knowing, and I am proud to say he is my Pop.
Pop enlisted in the Australian Military Forces on 28th March 1940. After a period of training in Australia, he was sent to the Middle East as part of the Australian Garrison that joined the Britain against the German uprising, a member of the 7th Division Cavalry regiment.

Charlie spent 18 months overseas, then was sent to Papua New Guinea on October 1942 to defend Australia against an imminent Japanese invasion along the infamous Kokoda Trail. Pop never spoke about the war, however I have read many books, diaries, and recounts about what the Australian Soldiers endured in this campaign, and it was nothing short of horrific.

Fortunately, Pop's Kokoda campaign was cut short a few months later. Unfortunately, Pop was shot in the left shoulder by
a Japanese sniper in the "Battle for Buna - Gona" in December 1942. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buna%E2%80%93Gona. The bullet missed his heart by centimetres, and he was evacuated to a local military hospital, assisted by the Fuzzy Wuzzy angels who supported the Australian troops. He remained in PNG until October 1943, and was transferred to an Australian Hospital ship, receiving treatment until finally returning home in May 1944. During this time, Pop's rehabilitation was hampered by bouts of scrub typhus and malaria, both making Pop very ill.

Pop served 1630 days in the Australian Army, 774 of those days overseas fighting other people's wars.
He was discharged in 1944 , medically unfit from the gunshot injury and the severe illnesses he suffered.

As mentioned before, Pop never spoke about his time in the Army, and it wasn't until a few years ago that I obtained a copy of his service records and realised he was part of the Kokoda campaign. Australia would be a very different country today if our troops were not successful in preventing Australian from being invaded, and my heart burst with pride that my Pop was one of the men who protected this beautiful country we have. I am doing this walk in his honour, and in honour of all Australian's who fought and died for our country. Written by your Granddaughter Leanne. x

The 7th Division Cavalry Regiment was formed in April 1940, mainly with men who were from New South Wales and Queensland, as the Victorians and South Australians with the regiment were released to form the basis of the 8th Division Cavalry Regiment. The 7th carried out its initial armored vehicle training at Cowra with Vickers light tanks and machine-gun carriers. Destined for the Middle East, the regiment sailed from Sydney Harbour, on board the Queen Mary, on Boxing Day 1940 and arrived in Egypt at the start of February 1941. The regiment then immediately moved to Palestine, where it continued training. In April the regiment handed over its vehicles to the 6th Division Cavalry Regiment, which used them in the advance to Benghazi. The 7th moved to the Suez Canal, where it helped with the defences. The following month, the regiment was sent to Cyprus to support British troops who had been sent to the island.
In addition to the 7th Division Cavalry Regiment, a British battalion and brigade headquarters were also sent to the island. Following the fall of Greece, it was thought that the presence of Allied troops on the island would deter the Germans from invading Cyprus. However, as Allied troops were preparing to defend Crete, as well as prepare for the invasion of Syria, few troops could be spared for Cyprus. The regiment’s main job was to give the impression of being a far larger force, the size of an armored brigade. Using Vickers light tanks, carriers, and trucks – Ford and Morris one-ton trucks with oversized tyres, for travelling over sand, called “Battle Buggies”. A number of these “Battle Buggies” were armed with 2-pounder guns to act as anti-tank vehicles.
The regiment arrived at the port of Famagusta on 5 May and moved to Athoulassa, near Nicosia, Cyprus’s capital, five days later. The unit remained on Cyprus until 16 August, when it was transferred to Syria as part of the garrison force.
At the start of 1942 the 6th and 7th Divisions returned to Australia, the 7th Division Cavalry Regiment returned home in the middle of March. The regiment initially stayed in South Australia, but then moved to Landsborough, near Caloundra, Queensland. The regiment was sent to Papua to help defend Port Moresby in September.
Australian troops had been fighting Japanese troops in Papua since July and, after months of hard fighting along the Kokoda Trail, in terrible terrain, towards the end of the year they had pushed the Japanese back to their bases at Gona, Buna, and Sanananda. Casualties were heavy and in the middle of December the regiment was flown from Moresby to Poppendetta to reinforce the Australians. The regiment’s carriers, however, remained in Moresby, as it was thought they would not be needed in the jungle.
On 18 December the regiment moved up to Huggins roadblock and went on to take part in the bitter fighting along the Sanananda Track and village. The village was not captured and cleared until 21 January 1942, by which time only about fifty fit men remained with the regiment. Fifty-four men, including the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Logan, had been killed, while another man had died of wounds, and 67 had been wounded. Three more had died from scrub typhus, while over 240 men were ill with malaria.
In February 1943 the regiment slowly reformed on the Atherton Tableland, Queensland. In 1943 and 1944 divisional cavalry regiments were reorganized into cavalry (commando) regiments. In April the 7th Division Cavalry Regiment became the 2/7th Cavalry Regiment. The regiment lost its vehicles and became the administrative headquarters for the 2/3rd, 2/5th, and 2/6th Commando Squadrons. The regiment remained with the 7th Division and its final campaign was at Balikpapan, Borneo, in July 1945.
Written by your Granddaughter Leanne. x