GITSHAM, Charles Frederick
| Service Number: | 6028 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 39th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ballarat East, Victoria, Australia, 8 March 1898 |
| Home Town: | Ballarat, Central Highlands, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Urquhart Street State School, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 8 June 1917, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6028, 8th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 6028, 8th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Jul 1916: | Embarked Private, 6028, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne | |
| 8 Jun 1917: | Involvement Private, 6028, 39th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 6028 awm_unit: 39th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-06-08 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Charles Frederick Gitsham was born in Ballarat and was just 18, a labourer, when he enlisted with the consent of his father Louis. On arrival in England he joined the 8th Battalion as a reinforcement, before transferring to the 39th Battalion with whom he moved to France in late November 1916. On June 8th 1917, at the age of 19, he was killed in action at Messines Ridge in Belgium. He was buried by comrades, but after the war his grave could not be identified, so he has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate at Ypres.
His older brother, Lt. James Gitsham, RAF, was killed in action 29 June 1918 and another brother 2nd Lt Thomas Louis Gitsham, ex 55th Battalion AIF also joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916.