Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

PREAMBLE - In 2019 the researcher/author produced this unpublished work on behalf of his family friend Noeline Florance. It honors her fathers brother who had all but been forgotten by emergent family members. But she knew of him through scraps of information handed through the family over her lifetime. Ben had died of terrible wounds suffered on the field of battle long before she was born. Whilst visiting overseas she located his war grave and paid him a visit with flowers, tears and messages of love as she honored him in his resting place which had probably not received any visitors in the past 100 years. Soon after her return to Australia the author became aware of Ben, her visit to his grave. So little was known of Ben, and so I commenced investigations into this boy soldier from Campsie. This work is the result of that inquiry. It is added in 2024 to this wonderful web site so Ben's story can be viewed into the future.

A table of contents is listed below. Chapters 2 through 6 are not reproduced here. Several are easily discoverable through AWM websites etc. The comparison tables do not reproduce in readable format when pasted to this story page.

No other relatives of Ben, or family members ,enlisted in the war. Including Ben, there were seven men who resided in South Parade Campsie who enlisted at various times to fight in the war. Only four returned to Australia.

If the reader wishes to see these tables they can contact me through the VWM administration and I will make them available to them.




The story of an Australian Boy Soldier
Charles Henry Benjamin Whitehouse (1900-1916)
AIF Service Number 3651

Author Vince Aitkin, West Wodonga, Australia
December 2019




LIST OF CONTENTS:

Chapter 1 - Foreword, Dedication, Story of Ben Whitehouse, References.

Chapter 2 - AIF War Service File for Ben Whitehouse

Chapter 3 - Red Cross file for Ben Whitehouse.

Chapter 4 - Selected Australian Newspaper Cuttings

Chapter 5 - Table showing comparison details of soldiers who were members of the Campsie Methodist Church and enlisted for service.

Chapter 6 - Table showing comparison details of enlisted soldiers who lived in South Parade Campsie.


FOREWORD
When war broke out in 1914 the enlistment age for soldiers into the AIF (Australian Imperial Force) was 18 years. The soldier had to be 19 years old before he could be sent overseas. You had to be 21 years old to enlist on your own accord. Those aged between 18 and 21 needed to have the written consent of one parent.
In their desire to be part of the action, some underage boys forged their parents or guardians signatures on the enlistment papers purporting to give permission to their enlistment. While some of them threatened their parents that if they did not sign their consent they would run away and enlist under assumed names, so that in the event of their being killed or wounded the Army would not know who to contact. Many such parents capitulated and signed permission.
The army enlistment centres were desperate to enlist men and often turned a blind eye to some enlistees who looked borderline, who may have displayed the physical standards and whose permission signatures were questionable. These permissions were never checked for authenticity.
In the First World War 416,809 Australians enlisted to serve and in the 1st year of the war 33% of those were rejected on health and other grounds. As casualties increased and enlistments sharply declined, enlistment standards were lowered to cover the slaughter level.
The Australian War Memorial records that 179 boy soldiers enlisted for service (1) and their names are recorded in their Roll of Honour. But these are the names of the boys who died, and it may never be known how many underage boys enlisted and returned to Australia both during and after the war. The number is considered to be far greater than the 179 who are known to have died during the conflict. All of these boys understated their age on their enlistment papers.
The youngest known boy was 14 years and nine months old when he died at Gallipoli in Turkey. The Australian Memorial web site (1) describes what happened to this lad.
"James Charles Martin was born at Tocumwal, New South Wales, on 3 January 1901. Keen for all things military, Jim joined the cadets at school and the year after leaving school he took up work as a farm hand. In 1915, Martin was eager to enlist with the Australian Imperial Force. His father had previously been rejected from service and Jim, the only male child of his family, was keen to serve in place of his father. Anyone under the age of 21 required written parental permission to enlist, and although Martin looked old for his age and his voice had broken he could not pass for a 21-year-old.

When Jim threatened to run away, join under another name and not to write to her if he succeeded in being deployed, his mother reluctantly gave her written permission for him to enlist. Martin succeeded in enlisting at the age of 14 years and 3 months, almost 4 years under the minimum age. After training for several months at Broadmeadows Camp, he departed with the 21st Infantry Battalion from Melbourne aboard HMAT Berrima on 28 June 1915.

From Egypt Martin and the other reinforcements of the 21st Battalion were deployed to Gallipoli. Their transport ship was torpedoed en route by a German submarine and Martin and several others spent hours in the water before being rescued. Martin eventually landed on Gallipoli in the early hours of 7 September and took up position near Wire Gully. In the following few months casualties from enemy action were slight, but the front-line work, short rations, sickness, flies, lice, and mosquitoes took their toll on the unit. Martin sent several letters to his parents from Gallipoli. In late October he contracted typhoid fever and was evacuated to hospital ship HMHS Glenart Castle on 25 October 1915. By this time he had lost half his weight and was in a bad state. Despite the best efforts of the medical staff aboard, in particular that of Matron Frances Hope Logie Reddoch, Martin died of heart failure just under two hours later. He was three months short of his 15th birthday. Martin was buried at sea and is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial on Gallipoli. The day after his death, Matron Reddoch wrote a heartfelt letter to Martin's mother back in Australia about her young son.

While he may not have been the youngest Australian to serve during the First World War, James Martin is considered the youngest to have died on active service". (End of quote from web site)
The story that follows is about Ben Whitehouse who was one of those 179 on the list. On his enlistment application form (2)he falsified his age to show 18 years 7 months but in reality he was only 15 and a bit years old. His parents consented and their signatures appear genuine.
Ben is an uncle to Noeline Florance of Albury NSW, who is a dear family friend of the author. I was inspired to write about Ben when she told me she recently visited his grave in Boulogne War Cemetery in France and left flowers at his headstone to remember him.
He enlisted in Sydney and died of wounds 380 days later.
I wish to express my gratitude to and acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Rhonda Hunter for her time in proof reading and advising with matters relating to this work.


Vince Aitkin
Melbourne December 2019.



DEDICATION

For Noeline Florance and in memory of her uncle Ben Whitehouse and all those underage soldiers who died in a war they had little or no understanding about and paid the ultimate price for adventure and service to their country.


CHARLES HENRY BENJAMIN WHITEHOUSE
BOY SOLDIER WHO SERVED WITH THE AIF IN WW1
55 BATALLION Service number 3651
Resident of South Parade Campsie, Sydney NSW Australia.

Charles Henry Benjamin Whitehouse was born in Sydney in 1900 (3)
to parents Charles Whitehouse and Sarah Ann Whitehouse (nee Dunstan). His father was born in Victoria in 1864 and worked as a foreman. He died in 1932 and is buried at Rookwood Methodist Cemetery. His mother was born in Victoria in 1870 and her father was named Benjamin Dunstan. She died on 12 September 1929 and is buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney. They married in Victoria in 1890.

Charles and Sarah’s first male child was Charles Henry Benjamin Whitehouse and he became known as Ben Whitehouse. He had two sisters - Charlotte (born 1891) and Lindell Elizabeth (1892-1941). Lindell married Orme Passlow in 1912 and they lived in Gundagai NSW). Ben also had two brothers Frank P (born 1904) and Jack W. (born 1912). The Whitehouse family lived at 'Braden Villa', 28 South Parade Campsie NSW and were of the Methodist religion following. Campsie was, and still is to-day, classed as a working man's suburb and is 11 kilometres south west of the Sydney CBD. It lies on the southern banks of the Cooks River.

On 12 August 1915 Charles signed an application (4) to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) at Victoria Barracks Sydney. His application form bears the consenting parents signatures, namely Charles Whitehouse (father) and Sarah Whitehouse (mother). The document states his age as 18 years 7 months (when in fact he was 15 years old at that time), 5 foot 3 and 3/4" high with an expanded chest measurement of 36". This application was provisionally accepted by the recruiting officer.

On 6th September 1915 Ben signed the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) Attestation paper and it confirms these details and further notates that he was of fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His father Charles Whitehouse was given as his next of kin and Ben states he was unmarried and occupation as being an Accountant's clerk. Ben was originally assigned to the 8th Reinforcements of the 17th Division unit. On 16th February 1916 he was transferred to the 55th Battalion and on 15th May 1916 transferred to the 59th Battalion. His rating was that of a Private and his Service number was 3651. His rate of pay was 5/- per day. Of that 4/- was withheld (probably paid to his father) and his net personal earning was 1/- a day paid weekly in cash by the army. The document stated he was of the Methodist religion.

On or about 14 October 1915 the Campsie Methodist Church held a farewell social for 13 young men of the local congregation who were "off to the front". Ben Whitehouse was amongst them and was presented with a sheepskin vest by Mrs Bussell. (5) (refer to Newspaper item The Methodist Sat 16 Oct 1915).

On 18 December 1915 the same newspaper records (6) that Ben Whitehouse's name (and others) appeared on the Roll of Honour that was unveiled at the Campsie Methodist Church. (refer to Newspaper item "The Methodist" Sat 18 December 1915). Despite extensive enquiries, this honour board cannot be located (2019) either at the Church or in other places where such archival material is likely to be stored.

Ben spent the next 130 days undertaking basic training and other army related duties.

On 20 December 1915 Ben embarked on the troop ship HMAT A60 "AENEAS" at Sydney together with approximately 178 members of the 8th Reinforcement 17th Infantry Battalion and other troops belonging to other Divisions. The "AENEAS" weighed 10,049 tons and its coal fired boilers generated steam that propelled the vessel at an average cruising speed of 26 kilometers per hour. It was owned by the Ocean SS Co Ltd in Liverpool (England) and was leased by the Australian Government until June 1917.

The ship sailed firstly to the south of Tasmania, then west to Albany in Western Australia. Troops were not allowed to disembark at this small port and had to remain on board. Here the "AENEAS" joined with other Australian and New Zealand troop ships and sailed in convey to Alexandria in Egypt. He spent 5 months in the Middle East undergoing extensive military training and on 18th June 1916 was embarked on the “SS KINFAUNS CASTLE” direct to Marseille in France. This was a troop ship running a shuttle of soldiers from the Middle East training grounds to the south coast of France. The ship would have sailed out into the Mediterranean sea in a westerly direction, passing Greece, Malta, Sicily on the right hand side and when it reached Sardinia it turned north and made landfall at Marseille which was a major landing port for troops and is a seaside port just 1000 kilometers due south of Fromelles where a great many of them would die within months.

At this point in time there may have been some brief period of shore leave where Ben would have been introduced to the pleasures of a French city through which tens of thousands of foreign troops were to pass through. Troops would soon board a slow train and later foot march towards the north of France towards its border with Belgium. They would have been exuberant at the green fields and moderate climate of France, so vastly different from the sand and dust, flies and heat of the desert country they had just left behind. All too soon they would be in the war zone of the Somme Valley and beyond experiencing almost constant artillery barrages, mud and death on a scale that would have been previously unimaginable to them.

The Australian troop’s introduction to the French countryside ended in mid July when he and his mates of the 59th Battalion found themselves in a tiny village in north eastern France called Fromelles. This village lies some 60 kilometers east of Calais, 20 kilometers west of Lille and around 5 kilometers south of the Belgium border. It is here, exactly 31 days after arriving in France, and just a few days after their arrival at Fromelles, on the 19th of July of that year Australians were thrown into one of those crazed assaults of man against machine guns with predictable cataclysmic results. In this one battle alone, which is known to-day as the battle of Fromelles, Australia suffered the greatest loss of life in any one day of its history - almost 2000 men dead and another 3500 wounded.

This particular battle was ordered by a British Lieutenant General Richard Haking and its objective was for Australian troops, supported by British soldiers, to proceed from their trenches and fight their way across an area of wet and boggy no mans land. The troops were to charge through bomb craters full of mud and water, negotiate barbed wire entanglements and to capture a heavily fortified German strong hold known as the Sugarloaf Salient. Located on the Aubers Ridge, this target was several hundred meters distant from where they left their defensive trenches.

This ill conceived plan to proceed into the face of defensive machine gun fire and cannon bombardment was flawed from the start and proved to be an absolute disaster. Haking had been responsible for ordering a previous attack in this area that also failed and resulted in the deaths of thousands of soldiers. Several British and Australian Commanders pointed out that such an attack was doomed to failure with a great loss of lives. They were overruled and this futile charge commenced at 6pm with three hours of daylight remaining. Days before this action the Germans had been bombing the Australian trenches which were in the main reduced to rubble. Likewise Australian and British gunners had been bombarding the Sugarloaf Salient and its concrete bunkers for days to weaken their ability to respond to the forthcoming attack.

This made little difference to the German's defending ability as they simply retreated to deep underground bunkers out of the range of the enemy's bombardment. Their elevated and heavily fortified position provided them with constant observation of the Australian and British troop movements and positions. They knew the attack was imminent and they were well prepared. German machine guns can fire up to 600 rounds per minute, or ten 7.62 mm bullets per second. These heavy machine guns are fixed on tripods and sleds and often set into concrete bunkers to provide their operators maximum protection. Belts of ammunition are fed to the guns which were water cooled. These guns had a devastating effect upon troops advancing towards their positions.

Ben was seriously wounded almost as soon as he left the trenches. He spent days lying in agony in no mans land waiting for someone to rescue him. It was a long wait and eventually he crawled several hundred meters back towards his trenches before being rescued, all the while being bombed and sniped at by German soldiers.

Gundagai is a vibrant country town situated 390 kilometers south west of Sydney and lies on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. It has a population of some 1925 people and in 1915 included amongst them was his sister who had married a local blacksmith called Orme Passlow and they lived at Jones Creek on the Burra Road some 5 kilometers north of Gundagai.

On 12 October 1916 the Gundagai Independent and Pastoral, Agricultural and Mining Advocate (the local newspaper) on page 4 (7)reproduced a letter dated 21 August 1916 written or dictated by Ben only 30 days before he died in hospital. The letter was written whilst he was recovering from his wounds received 32 days previously during that awful attack. This article stated:
" In The Ranks - Enlisted at 15 Death of a Boy Hero"
Mrs Orma Passlow of Jones Creek, has received word that her brother, Private C.B.Whitehouse, had succumbed to wounds received whilst fighting in France for the cause of freedom. Private Whitehouse visited Gundagai on several occasions before getting away to the war, and was only 15 years of age when he enlisted. His death took place on Sept 17 when he was 16 years and eight months old. May this bright young lad's sacrifice be an incentive to others to go and do their duty. Writing to his sister under the date of 21.8.16, the late private Whitehouse said:-
"My line, which was the fourth of my battalion was ordered out of the trenches at 6.30pm on Wednesday 19th July. The commanding officer said "You need not be afraid - our artillery is better than theirs". I waited with cigarette and chewing gum in my mouth, and when the order came I was first up the ladder. Had trenching tools in my belt as well as two sand bags one of them holding two bombs: also a pick on my shoulder: I jumped clean into a pool of water up to my knees. Getting out I walked quickly ahead for a while when I felt a sting under my arm. Had a look: it was not even bleeding.
Further on we had to wade a creek over which the first line was supposed to have built bridges. The water was up to my waist, and about 10 ft. wide. After getting out I walked almost 10 yards when I felt a sting in the lower part of my left leg, but struggled on a few yards, when I fell with my left arm forward. I was not there long, when a shrapnel shell seemed to burst right between my shoulder and face. It did not hurt but the whole of my left arm became numb, and one of my teeth fell out.
I got rid of my equipment, except water bottle, which was full, and laid on my back, pulling my left arm round to my stomach, holding it there with my right hand. Some time later I got a snipers bullet through my right hand, between the finger and thumb. I laid there until Friday night. I think I raved a good bit as I could have sworn they carried me into the trenches twice. Thursday I lived on my water bottle, and crawled to those of the dead around. Next morning another fellow and I started to crawl, back to our trenches. I crawled along to our side of the creek, passing the other fellow.
Friday afternoon an officer crawled out to them with fresh water and promised them stretcher-bearers. I was very tired, but afraid to go to sleep for fear the stretcher bearer would pass me for dead and I kept shouting 'stretcher bearer'. The other fellow crawled away and that was the last I saw of him. The s.b. came that night , and what a relief it was to be on a stretcher, although after that I was so weak that I don't remember very much until they began to dress my wounds.
They had to cut the clothes off me before they could do anything. I lost my pay book so don't know how I will get on. I have been in the hospital just a month, but expect to be moved to England any day now. I am feeling tip-top, although vary thin. I shall try to get back home for Christmas when I get my furlough, although it is a bit near. My wounds are detailed as follow: Perforated right hand and left leg, fractured shoulder and lower arm, lacerated face and shrapnel wound in back. I had a hard go for it but am on the mend now." (end of newspaper article).

Charles Bean was Australia's official war correspondent during World War 1 and he was present at most of the major battles involving Australian soldiers. Bean was present on the battlefield at Fromelles when the charge was initiated on the 19th of July. In the book entitled “Our Darkest Day Fromelles" written by Patrick Lindsay, on page 115 (8)he quotes from the writing of Bean about that battle as he saw it and is quoted as describing:
"Before the actual order to advance, the men-as was often the case with Australians, especially when first in action- could be felt straining like greyhounds at the leash, and were not easily restrained from anticipating the word of command. On its being given, they went forward with splendid dash opposite the Sugar Loaf, carrying with them the survivors of the 59th, until, when they were two thirds of the way across no man's land, there was opened from the salient a fire of machine guns so severe that the line was shattered and the men dazed".
Bean also wrote of this battle (page 109 of "Our darkest days at Fromelles"):
"The moment they cleared the top of the parapet it became hideous with machine gun fire. There was a slight slope - our line (of men) ran down it and then went splash up to their waists in water. It was slimy but it gave some protection. The leading lewis (machine) gunner turned to the right and led the guns along the ditch, and then to the left along a continuation of it straight towards the German line. It was very good protection for the guns. About 40 yards along, the leader got hit in the neck by a machine gun bullet. He choked - one of our gunners tied him up, and, with another, they lay there for half an hour of longer. The ditch was full of wounded and dying men - like a butchers shop- men groaning and crying and shrieking"

Once the battle had ceased in a disastrous failure and under the cover of darkness, rescue parties were organised and crawled out on their hands and knees into no mans land to try and find those who survived. The sheer numbers of those wounded meant they ran out of stretchers and were forced to carry the rescued on their backs. - Patrick Lindsay, the author of “Our Darkest Day Fromelles" page 135, quotes from the diary of Hugh Knyvett who participated in the battle and recovery effort. He wrote :

"One lad, who looked about 15 , called to me 'don't leave me sir', I said: 'I will come back for you sonny' as I had a man on my back at the time. In that waste of dead one wounded man was like a gem in sawdust- just as hard to find. Four trips I made before I found him , then it was as if I had found my brother. Both of his legs had been broken, and he was only a schoolboy, one of those overgrown lads who added a couple of years in declaring his age to get into the army. But his circumstances brought about by his youth, and he clung to me as though I were his father. Nothing I have ever done has given me the joy that the rescuing of that lad did, and I do not even know his name."

Ben’s War Service Record includes a statement of service and casualty form which records in graphic detail of Ben's injuries and fate. He suffered Gun shot wounds to the left arm and chest, a compound fracture of the left forearm, severe wounding to the left leg, hand and chest and left forearm and facial injuries. A Red Cross report on his condition noted that his left arm had to be amputated at the shoulder. At 10.15 pm on Wednesday 21 September 1916 Ben died at No.13 Stationery hospital in Boulogne, 63 days after being injured. Septemia had set in and the infection spread and lead to his death. So many injured soldiers suffered in the same way. Antibiotics were yet to be discovered.

Ben was buried in Boulogne Eastern War Cemetery France in grave number 3968. There are some 15 boy soldiers who were killed in that one day of battle at Fromelles. Most of them are buried beside and nearby Ben's grave. Boulogne is a coastal port town on the North West coast of France and is 125 kilometres to the west of Fromelles. It was a busy transporting hub for the shipping of troops and war supplies between England and France during this war.

Ben served for 380 days in the service of his country, 130 of them in Australia and 250 in the Middle East and France. He spent 127 days in various Army hospitals suffering from conditions various conditions including the 63 days after he was wounded.

Ben's service record does not contain a copy of the usual telegram that is sent to next of kin advising of death, but there is evidence that they were advised of his being wounded. The impact on his parents and siblings would have been devastating as it was with the parents and loved ones of those who lost kin in this Great War. Memorial notices were inserted by his parents and siblings on 21 September 1918, 22 September 1919 and 22 September 1928.

On August 26th March 1918 just 956 days after he left home to join the AIF, his father received in the post and acknowledged receipt of Ben's personal effects sent to him by the Army. These items comprised his identity disks, 2 brushes, razor in case, photos, letters, devotional book, cards and shaving soap.

On the 21st November 1921, Ben's father signed for receiving the Memorial Scroll, sent by the Army to the Next of Kin of those who paid the ultimate price during this war.

His mother died at the age of 59 in 1929 and his father died three years later in 1932 when he was aged 62 years. They resided in their family home at 28 South Parade Campsie until their deaths.

Ben's name appears on a list of 171 First World War Boy Soldiers prepared by The Australian War Memorial. His name also appears on the memorial wall at the Australian War Museum in Canberra. The whereabouts of his personal effects are not yet known and a search is underway to locate these items.

In 1915 the Campsie Methodist Church was located in South Street Campsie. Although the Church has now come under the influence of the Presbyterian Religion, the Church is still in the same location. In 1915 a Roll of Honour was erected within the Church and it listed the local 17 male Methodist parishioners who went away to serve in the Great War. It is no longer on display and its whereabouts are presently unknown.

Part of this work is a schedule detailing the 17 parishioners who served. Information was extracted from their War Service Records available online at the Australian Archives web site. One War Service Record cannot be found, and of the remaining 16 men, we know 10 returned home after the war had ended. Six of them were killed in action at the battlefields of Paschendaele, Fluers, two at Pozziers, one at Ypres and Ben at Fromelles.

Surprisingly, very few of them were in the same Battalion and most fought at different locations at different times. Some undoubtedly trained together at Holsworthy Army Base in Sydney and later in Alexandria in Egypt. It is also likely that many crossed paths with one another as reinforcement units, or travelling on various ships embarking them from one theatre of war to another.

The fact that they all attended the same church, were young men who lived in Campsie or nearby suburbs suggests that they probably all knew each other socially. Investigations of Service Records reveal that two of them at least would have had the opportunity for regular contact during the course of their service. Thomas Ferguson Evans, aged 24 years, a book salesman, and single, lived in South Parade Campsie only 100 meters from Ben Whitehouse who also lived in the same parade. There is only one day’s difference between them signing their attestation papers and only 12 numbers separates their enlistment numbers. Thomas joined the 8th Reinforcements of the 18th Battalion and Ben was posted initially to the 7th reinforcements of the 17th Battalion, but was later transferred to other battalions and finished up in the 59th. Thomas remained in the 18th.

They both embarked and sailed together from Sydney on Monday 20th December 1915 on the “Aeneas” bound for Alexandria in Egypt. Their Divisions camped and trained together for 6 months until on Sunday 18 June 1916 they both embarked from Alexandria on board the “Kinfauns Castle” bound for Marsellie. Here they would have travelled the 1000 kilometres north by troop train to the Somme River Valley slaughter fields. Ben had by this time been transferred to the 59th Battalion and went to Fromelles where he was wounded on Wednesday 19th July. Thomas proceeded with his division to Pozziers where 10 days later he was killed in action on 29th July 1916.

In addition to the soldiers who were members of the Campsie Methodist Church there were six other soldiers who lived in South Parade and went to the war. This is the street where Ben lived with his parents. These men were aged between 18 years and 41 and included Major William Newton who was a surgeon. He however returned to Australia within 15 months suffering from tuberculous. None of these six soldiers enlisted at the same time as Ben and were allocated to different battalions and served in different theatres of the war. Two of them were killed in action in France and the remaining four all returned to Australia at the cessation of hostilities. An attached schedule provides basic details about them.

It would be a fair assumption to say that many if not all of these men living in the same street knew each other. It is also likely their parents or next of kin also knew each other in this working mans suburb. Of the seven enlisted soldiers who lived in South Parade only four returned to Australia. Some returned home badly wounded and one was effected by a disease attracted whilst on overseas duty.

As time goes by and ongoing investigations continue, more evidence may emerge that highlights contact that the Campsie Methodist boys may have had between themselves during the course of the war.

A photograph of Ben was discovered in a very small locket belonging to his living relative Noeline Florance of Albury. It has been a family hand down and has been reproduced to become the cover image accompanying this story. On a warm, sunny and still day In June 2019, one hundred and three years after Ben’s death, his relative Noeline Florance placed flowers at his grave-side in Boulogne War Cemetery in France.


Lest we forget


Prepared by Vince Aitkin, Melbourne - December 2019




REFERENCES:
References:
1. Memorial, Australian War. First World War Boy Soldiers (179). Australian War Memorial. [Online] https://www.awm.goc.au/articles/encyclopedia/boysoldiers.
2. AWM. Records Search. National Archives of Australia. [Online] https://recordssearch.naa.gov.au. Page 13 of 46 in the file.
3. Registry of NSW Births Deaths and Marriages. Registration 6720/1900.
4. AWM. Records Search. National Archives of Australia. [Online] https://recordssearch.naa.gov.au. Search record for Charles Whitrehouse.
5. Trove- The Methodist (Sydney NSW 1892-1954) . 16/10/1915 page 9.
6. "Campsie". Trove - The Methodist (Sydney NSW 1892-1954) . 16/10/1915 Page 8.
7. Trove - Gundagai Independant and Pastoral Agricultural and Mining Advocate (NSW 1898-1928_. 12/10/1916 "In the Ranks" page 4.
8. Lindsay, Patrick. Our Darkest Days FROMELLES, page 115. s.l. : Hardie Grant Australia , 2007 rep 2016. ISBN 9781743792148.
Other Sources referred to for background information and material relating to this work:
• Richard Van Emden. Boy Soldiers of the Great War. Headline Book Publishing (UK) 2012 ISBN 9781408824726. This work deals with English Boy soldiers who enlisted, served and died in WW1.
• Paul Byrnes. The Lost Boys - the untold stories of the under-age soldiers (Australian ed) who fought in the First World War . Affirm Press South Melbourne, 2019, ISBN 9781925870503 (hardback)
• Canterbury's Boys - World War 1 & Sydney's Suburban Fringe. Contributors Leslie Muir, Les Hall and Brian Madden for the Canterbury & District Historical Society. 2002. This publication is an excellent source of information about the battle fields of WW1 in which local soldiers fought and died. It also provides some brief details about each local soldier who fought in these conflicts. Available on CD and older print versions are kept by libraries and in private collections.
• NSW Births Death and Marriages for various births, deaths and marriages of relevant individuals where reference is made to such events in this work.
• Australian Red Cross Reports on lost or missing Soldiers for Ben Whitehouse and other Campsie Methodist Church soldiers who were known to enlist in the war. These can be viewed at: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/redcross
• Australian Archives, Canberra Australia - for WW1 War Service Record for Charles Henry Benjamin Whitehouse and other selected WW1 soldiers mentioned in the text and listed by the Methodist Church Campsie.
• National Library of Australia - Trove - various newspapers throughout New South Wales for relative items. Where shown in this text acknowledgement is provided for date and publication source.
• Image (black and white) of Ben Whitehouse provided by his relative Noel Florance (nee Whitehouse) who located it in a family locket. It is believed to be the only surviving image of her relative. Maker unknown. Enhanced by the author.
• Interviews conducted by the author during 2019 with Noelene Florance (nee Whitehouse) about her relative Ben Whitehouse and other family members.
• Images of Noelene Florance laying flowers at the grave site of Ben Whitehouse at the Commonwealth War Graves administered War Cemetery at Boulogne Eastern War Cemetery France in 2019. Maker is her son Phillip Florance.
end.

List showing some comparison details, extracted from War Service Records and Red Cross Records of the Soldiers names which appeared on the Roll of Honour Board displayed at the Campsie Methodist Church in 1915. These 17 names appear in The newspaper "Methodist" Sydney NSW 18/12/1915 which listed those who appeared on the Honour Board.