SHARPE, Charles Even
| Service Number: | 2637 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 September 1916, Enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 39th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glebe, New South Wales, Australia, September 1884 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway trackworker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 June 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Bethleem Farm West Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Sep 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2637, 39th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney. | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 2637, 39th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, 2637, 39th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Sydney |
Help us honour Charles Even Sharpe's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Charles Even SHARPE (Service Number 2637) was born in Glebe about September 1884.
He worked for the Permanent Way Section of the NSW Railways as a platelayer (track worker). He worked on the Lindfield to Wondabyne duplication in 1908 and the quadruplication of the line between Sydney and Sydenham in 1914.
Sharpe enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds (Moore Park) on 1st September 1916 and gave his wife, Harriett Vale Sharpe living in Alexandria as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 39th Battalion he embarked HMAT ‘Benalla’ on 9th November 1916. He reached Devonport on 9th January 1917. He spent the next four months in England with the 10th Training Battalion before proceeding overseas to France through Folkestone on 3rd May. He was taken on the strength of the 39th Battalion on 22nd May 1917. He was at first recorded wounded in action on 7th June but by the end of the month sufficient facts had emerged to confirm that he had been killed. There are numerous reports of his death at Messines and they all agree that he was killed by shell fire.
Chaplain J Best responded to enquiries made to him by writing:
‘Killed in Action 7.6.17 Battle of Messines. Buried in the Field. Those buried “in the field” at Messines, were buried in definite localities properly marked, but the places had no names. There is some doubt as to whether some of the lads were killed on 7th or 8th of June. It is a question of whether they were killed before midnight or after. If you have the 8th down and my date is 7th, keep to your date.’
Sharpe was buried at Bethleem Farm (West) Military Cemetery 2¾ miles SSW of Messines.
A pension of £2 per fortnight was granted to his widow from 11 September 1917.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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