CHATTIN, Harold Reginald
| Service Number: | 5127 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 24th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, May 1894 |
| Home Town: | Tinamba, Wellington, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Montrehain, France, 5 October 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
Bellicourt British Cemetery Plot VI, Row Q, Grave No. 2 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5127, 24th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 5127, 24th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Jul 1916: | Embarked Private, 5127, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne |
Help us honour Harold Reginald Chattin's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Michael Ganey
Pte Harold Reginald Chattin. Service Number 5217.
Harold Chattin was born in Sydney in 1894 to Steven and Mary Chattin. His parents were English, and Harold returned to England with his parents at a young age and was educated in England. He returned, by himself, to Australia as a young man in June 1913 and he listed himself as a 21-year old labourer working in Maffra when he enlisted there on the 21stJanuary 1916. He joined the ‘2nd Maffra Platoon’ that was unique to the region. During 1916, there were three Maffra Platoons formed, and they trained there for some weeks before moving to Broadmeadows for regular training. These platoons wore distinctive white slouch hats.
Harold embarked on the HMAT A32 Themistocles on the 28thof July 1916 and when he arrived in England he was sent to the 6thTraining Battalion in November 1916. After a short period of further training he was taken on strength with the 24th Battalion in France in 21stDecember 1916. He served until May 1917 when he was struck down with Trench Fever. He was discharged from hospital to the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot on the 17th of May 1917. While he was at this base depot, he went AWOL from the 3rd of July until he handed himself in on the 13th of July. He lost 39 days pay for this ‘indiscretion’.
He was returned to the 24th Battalion in August 1917. On the 5th January 1918 he proceeded to London on leave. He became sick here and was admitted to Hospital on the 23rd of January. During his convalescence he found time to get married, as his records show that on the 27th of February 1918, he married Evelyn Agnes Ellis. It is unknown whether he previously had known Evelyn before the war, or whether it was a whirlwind romance when he may have met her on leave. Either way, he probably was able to spend some time with his new bride during his convalescence in England. This apparently was not enough time, as he went AWOL again on the 26th of March until the 9th of April. For this further indiscretion he lost 42 days pay.
Harold was posted to the New Zealand Base Depot in France on the 17th of April 1918. Why he was sent to a New Zealand unit is a mystery. On the 25th of April he became sick again while he was returning back to the 24thBattalion at the front and he was again hospitalized, this time in France. He rejoined his battalion again on the 24th of June and again became sick again in August. He returned to his unit on the 28th of September. Eight days later he was listed as missing in action after the assault on Montbrehain on the 5th of October.
His pay-book was handed into the battalion at a later date. Later his body was located in the Melbourne British Cemetery. On the 26th of October he was finally reported as killed in action on the 5th October. Records show that he was acting as a stretcher-bearer on this day and he had already taken a wounded soldier, Edward Cunningham, back to the 50th casualty station before he died. How Harry died is unknown.
As part of the concentration program by the Imperial War Graves Commission after the war, he was reinterred in the Bellicourt British Cemetery. He lies in plot VI. Q.2.
His wife Evelyn finally received his effects in 1920. She provided the epitaph for his headstone.
Blessed And Holy Is He
That Have Part
In The First Resurrection.
Private Harry Chattin is remembered on the Newry Roll of Honour, which is held in the Newry/Maffra Mechanics Institute.
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