Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

François Berthout

Private number 2563 Charles Avon Foreman
 
In the red fields of poppies which undulate under the rays of the sun, walk in silence, still standing and proudly, the souls of men, a whole generation of men who rest in peace under the shade of their white graves, men who, together, for their country, for peace and freedom, gave their youth in the trenches and shed their blood on the battlefields on which, united, they fought with the greatest bravery and on which they gave their lives. Gone but not forgotten, their memory and their history, the history of who they were and what they did and the sacrifices they paid will never be forgotten, in our hearts and in our thoughts we will keep them alive so that they live eternally. I would always watch over them with honor and pride, with the same devotion that they showed alongside their comrades who were, in life, on the battlefield, exceptional men and who are today,my heroes, my boys of the Somme.

Today, it is with the greatest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who fought with bravery and fell as he had lived, with courage.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2563 Charles Avon Foreman who fought in the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion,B Company, 3rd Australian Division, and who was killed in action 103 years ago, on April 14, 1918 at the age of 20 on the Somme front.

Charles Avon Foreman was born in 1898 in Northam, Western Australia, and was the son of William Henry and Jean Foreman, of Fitzgerald Street, Northam, Western Australia. Charles was educated at State School, Northam and after his studies he served as Sergeant in the Senior Cadets and as Private in the Citizen Military Forces.Before the outbreak of the war, he worked as a bank clerk.

Enlisted on August 14, 1916 at Blackboy Hill, Western Australia, in the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion, 5th Reinforcement, B Company, 3rd Australian Division, he embarked with his unit from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A8 Argyllshire on November 9, 1916 and sailed for Devonport, England where he arrived on January 10, 1917 and was sent, a month later, on February 5, to the 10th Training Battalion to receive his training at Codford, Wiltshire, on Salisbury Plain then on November 5,1917 he was sent to the 11th Training Battalion to complete his training in Mandeville.Two months later, on January 1, 1918, he embarked from Southampton and sailed for France where he was disembarked the next day, on January 2 at Rouelles near Le Havre then sent to the Somme front with the 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion where, in the cold, in the mud, he fought with great courage to face the spring offensive of the German army.

Unfortunately, it was in the Somme that three months later, on April 14, 1918 Charles met his fate.On April 14, 1918, while he was on the front line, in the reserve trenches at Mericourt, while he was building a dugout for himself,he was instantly killed by a shell which fell on his position,he was 20 years old.

Today, Charles Avon Foreman rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at the Bonnay Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "Your young life you nobly gave helping to save us all".

Charles, you who were young, in the prime of your life, without hesitation, with determination, you heard the call of your country and responded with the greatest conviction to the call of duty to join the ranks of your comrades and without fear, with pride in your heart, you said goodbye to the coasts of Australia under the rising sun guiding your steps with confidence and determination, it is with your head held high that you have joined the soils of northern France with the conviction of doing what was right, leading a noble fight in a war that was to end all wars.Young and proud, you have walked through hills and muddy paths, on rough roads, through fields of wheat and poppies,with eyes turned to the distant horizon in which loomed the dark clouds of an uncertain future and difficult days, it is fearless that you moved forward under the roar of cannons to reach the trenches of the Somme, knees deep in the mud, a sticky and invading mud, a blood-soaked mud which, in visions of horrors, sometimes let glimpse bodies turned upside down and buried by the shells, in this mud, in this hell, these young men, courageous and determined, lost their innocence but not their courage or their hopes.in the most beautiful spirit of camaraderie, gallanterie and unity, they overcame their fears and the horrors of a world at war, endless hours of shelling that the artillery fire rained down on them who were without protection, with their hands on their steel helmets, their legs trembling and their hearts beating wildly, under this relentless hail of steel, they had nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape.they were surrounded, trapped by flames, by rains of howling and scorching metal which tore the sky with thousands of lightning and which transformed formerly peaceful landscapes into landscapes of apocalypses strewn with shell holes, these peaceful fields became fields of death in which, immobile for eternity, lay men and horses which were mown down, annihilated by the murderous fire of the machine guns which swept the battlefields with an endless rain of bullets.this was what the battlefields, the fields of the Somme were for these men, it was hell, an endless nightmare and yet, in the heart of this darkness, they never gave up, they did not retreat and fought like lions, side by side, their guns in hand they shouted with force "They will not pass" and put their heart, all their energy in the fight, they gave all they had and it is together, strong, proud, loyal, determined and brave that they followed their comrades and their officers, they all went over the top, no one remained behind, like a united family they rushed, charged through no man's land, under the bullets and the shells, facing the machine guns and their fates, they moved forward, through the mud and the barbed wire, in the face of the dangers, they showed the determination and the courage of a whole generation which did so much for us and which, in one last breath, in a last act of courage, stopped in their lives and their youth,they gave their lives and fell next to each other in the same way they had lived and fought, together and it is still together that they rest today in peace, in serene silence, in the calm of a world once again united and at peace as australia and france are and always will be, united around the memory of these heroes that we will bring to life forever and that we will always honor with love and on whom I would always watch with the greatest care so that they are not forgotten and to share the story of their lives, the story of men for whom I have the deepest respect and deep admiration and pride and that I would always see each of them as real heroes and whom I would always call with respectful affection "my boys of the Somme", our sons, our loved ones who will never be forgotten and who will live forever.Thank you Charles,for everything,with all my heart.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.