OSBORNE, Charles
| Service Number: | 2663 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 13th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia, 12 March 1895 |
| Home Town: | Murrurundi, Upper Hunter Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Nambucca Heads, New South Wales, Australia, 19 January 1963, aged 67 years |
| Cemetery: |
Nambucca Heads General Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2663, 13th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2663, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney |
Life after WW1
Charles Osborne returned from England in December 1919 with his war bride wife, Winifred Osborne (nee Batcock) and their son Leslie Charles Osborne, born 16th April 1919 in Essex, England. Charles and Winifred lived in Murrurundi for a short while before moving to live in Belfield in Sydney, where Charles and Winifred had 2 more sons, Ralph and Keith.
Charles worked all his life in NSW railways and became a train driver. Charles retired from the railways in 1961 retiring to Nambucca Heads where he enjoyed a quiet life fishing. He died there in 1963. Winifred died in Nambucca in 1973.
Charles never spoke about his war service to his children or family, nor did he participate in any ANZAC day commemorations. His only association after the war was a fellow serviceman would travel to Sydney from Melbourne once a year and see Charles. The family knew that this fellow soldier owed his life to Charles who had rescued him, injured in no man’s land after a battle.
From Charles’s survival and his subsequent marriage to Winifred, they had 3 sons, 8 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Charles got to meet and know his 8 grandchildren.
Only 1 of Charles’s sons served in World War 2, Leslie Charles Osborne. Leslie lived until his 105th year of 2024. It is through Leslie’s verbal stories that I write this story. I’m Christopher, the youngest grandchild of Charles Osborne. Son of Leslie Osborne.
As the years pass, the history and knowledge of these veterans will be forgotten.
Submitted 10 April 2025 by Christopher Osborne
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