CHALLEN, Benjamin Milton
| Service Numbers: | 669, V5939 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 September 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Divisional Signal Company |
| Born: | Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia, 3 March 1893 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Central School, Bendigo. Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Dental Mechanic |
| Memorials: | Bendigo Central School Honor Roll, Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor, Bendigo St. John's Presbyterian Church Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Feb 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 669, 2nd Divisional Signal Company, HMAT Afric, Melbourne | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Feb 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 669, 2nd Divisional Signal Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' |
World War 2 Service
| 4 Sep 1940: | Enlisted V5939 |
|---|
Help us honour Benjamin Milton Challen's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Larna Malone
Benjamin Milton Challen was born in Bairnsdale, the son of Mr P. R. and Mrs Florence Challen. The family had moved to Bendigo in time for him to attend the Central School in Bendigo. His father, formerly Post Master of Bendigo, was deceased, but his mother was still alive, and a sister, Mrs I Ingram, lived in Hargreaves St. On his enlistment papers Benjamin Milton Challen signed his name ‘B Milton Challen’, so it seems probable that he was known as ‘Milton’. He was a Dental Mechanic and was currently serving as a Signaller in the Light Horse. He was the 3rd man to enlist from St John’s Presbyterian Church, Bendigo.
Benjamin Milton Challen enlisted in Bendigo on 19.10.14. He was 21 years and 7 months old, 5’ 4” tall, with a fair complexion, grey eyes and black hair. He was appointed Sapper and allotted Service No. 669. He embarked for overseas on 25.2.15 with the 2nd Reinforcements for the 2nd Division Signal Company.
He embarked for Gallipoli with the 4th Infantry Brigade Signal Section on 5.4.15. In a letter dated 26.4.15 he wrote: “On Monday morning, April 26, the 14th Battalion, which was on our transport, was ordered ashore . . . . I was left on board to give a hand with the wounded and maintain communication with the shore” [Bendigo Independent 14 June 1916]
In May he wrote to his sister: “This war has given me what I never had before – health. I will never go back to indoor work, but am going fruit growing or mixed farming. We are well fed on bacon, cheese, biscuits, bully beef and stew, and are all in first-class nick.” Describing conditions at Anzac, he wrote: “We are being tested by the fires of hell. Fear leaves you after the first hour under fire and you do not care what happens. You hear the bullets singing round your head as you go out to mend the broken telephone wire. You kneel down and do your job to the accompaniment of their whistling. . . . I am used a lot to carry despatches, and the ‘mighty atom’, as I have been nick-named, because of my height, is glad to be only an atom, at times.” [Bendigo Advertiser. 14 July, 1915]
On 29.5.15 he disembarked at Alexandria, Egypt. While in Egypt he attended a Signal School, re-joining his unit on 30.1.16. The following month he was transferred to the 4th Division Signal Company. In June he embarked for France, disembarking at Marseille on 8.6.16.
On 10.8.16 he was Wounded in Action during the battle of Pozieres. He was admitted to hospital with Shell Shock in France and later transferred to hospital in England. On discharge from hospital he was transferred to Signal School in England (2.9.16).
On 13.3.17 he was posted to No 49 Dental Unit, London, as Staff Sergeant. In May he joined the 63rd Dental Unit. A newspaper report stated: “ . . . . owing to ill health as the result of being gassed in 1916, is now on the staff of a dental hospital in England.” [Bendigonian. 7 Feb 1918]
On 8.6.18 he was transferred to the 83rd Dental Unit. He embarked for return to Australia on 2.1.19.
During WW2 he served in the Citizen Military Forces with Service no V5939.
“The Men Listed on the Roll of Honour, St John’s Presbyterian Church, Bendigo”: Larna Malone
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