BROAD, Albert Chafen
| Service Number: | 2260 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 58th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | FordingBridge, Hampshire, England, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Footscray, Maribyrnong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Butcher |
| Memorials: | Footscray Town Hall Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 2260, 58th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 2260, 58th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Orsova, Melbourne | |
| 25 Sep 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 2260, 58th Infantry Battalion, Was wounded 3 times in total and discharged Wounded in action (unknown) on 1917, returned to unit on 23.12.1917. Wounded in action (Gassed) on 14.03.1918, returned to unit on 16.03.1918. Wounded in action again (gun shot wound to head) 09.08.1918. admitted to line of communication hospital 10.08.1918. Then transferred to Ilford hospital, London, England 25.08.1918and discharged on 20.09.2018. Left England returning to Australia on 25.01.2019, reached Melbourne on 23.03.2019 and demobilised. |
Mr Terence Leahy
Albert Chafwas born In Fordingbridge, (New Forest) Hampshire. England.
Born: 09 December 1889.
Sergeant Albert Broad was a First World War veteran, but with an interesting story. He had been born in Fordingbridge and married at nearby Hyde in 1912 apparently in a double wedding, alongside his sister and wife's brother. His father, also Albert, was a Woodman, but Albert was a dealer in pigs, who could be fed on the forest acorns amongst other things. He emigrated with his wife Lillian to Victoria, Australia
On 26 July 1915 he joined the Australian Army recording that his previous military experience was four years with the Hampshire Carabiniers Yeomanry, on the New Forest Levels, a Territorial Force cavalry regiment. His attestation records that he was 5 feet, 5 ½ inches tall, with blue eyes and dark brown hair, with his occupation given as Butcher. He was sent overseas on 1st August 1916 as part of the 58th Infantry Battalion, but on arrival to England was promoted to Company Quarter Master Sergeant and detached to the training cadre of 15th Infantry Battalion, based at Tidworth, not too far from his former home. In September 1917 he reverted to Corporal and was sent to France with the 58th Battalion where he was wounded in action in Polygon Wood on the 25th of that month, taking 3 months to recover before rejoining his battalion, only to be gassed at Messines in March 1918, but he was back with his unit in just 2 days. On 25th August 1918 he sustained a serious shrapnel wound to the head on the Somme and was evacuated back to England and admitted to Ilford Emergency Hospital in Essex.
Five months after this, following a month of recuperation at Littlemoor Camp at Weymouth in Dorset, and a period on Salisbury Plain, he was shipped back to Australia on the Hospital Transport Ceramic, being discharged in April 1919. Despite his wartime injuries he was passed fit on discharge and so received no war pension. By 1923 he was back in Fordingbridge, writing to Australia apply for his (British issued) medals.
Submitted 20 July 2026 by Terence Leahy