Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From Ballarat & District in the Great War

No useless coffin enlosed his breast,
Nor in sheet nor in shroud they wound
him,
But he lies like a warrior taking his rest
With his martial cloak around him.

Charles Henry Gist was born at Ballarat on 2 December 1893. He was the third son of Smythesdale native, John Gist, and his Cornish wife, Elizabeth Mary Bennett. The family, which eventually numbered seven children, lived at 9 Loch Street in Ballarat East.

Charlie was only a lad of 7, when his father was caught up an heroic incident. John Gist, who was an engine driver with the Victorian Railways, was driving his passenger train on the midday trip from Ballarat to Buninyong on Saturday 27 July 1901, when the steam gauge shattered. Steam and scalding water sprayed all over the cabin, making it impossible for him to reach for the brake. With the train heading at speed down a dangerously steep incline into Buninyong, immediate action was required.

‘…Driver Gist proved himself equal to the occasion, with his clothes on fire. His hands and arms badly scalded, and finding it impossible to get in to turn off the gauge glass cocks, or near his brake handle for flame and escaping steam, climbed around his engine, although travelling at a high rate of speed, and disconnected his train pipe [the Westinghouse coupling] and applied his brakes with full power, bringing up his train and saving what had every appearance of ending in a very bad smash…’

His actions were recognised with presentations from his comrades, a £10 reward and a special merit record placed against his name by the Victorian Railways.

Whilst the children were no doubt privy to their father’s bravery, it is unlikely they heard of another incident that occurred just two months later. This time John Gist was driving a goods train slowly through the Ballarat rail yards, when it struck a fellow worker who was killed – another reminder of just how dangerous their father’s job actually was.

Generally, Charlie Gist’s life continued to follow the typical pattern of most Australian children of the era: he was enrolled as a student at the Humffray Street State School, where he received the standard education. He was also involved in the Sunday School at the Barkly Street Methodist Church and on Saturdays played for the church cricket team in the local competition. His mate Clifford Polkinghorne played with the same team.

Choosing not to follow his father and brother into the railways upon completing his education, Charlie was instead employed as a clerk at Graham’s Boot Factory in Armstrong Street, Ballarat. He also joined the Australian Natives Association. He then moved to Melbourne, where he worked as a clerk in a timber yard in Footscray. He was still working there when war was declared in August 1914.

Having reached the age of 21-years, Charlie did not require his parent’s consent when he enlisted on 8 September 1914. He certainly had no difficulty in passing the medical examination – he was 5-foot 10½-inches tall, weighed 12½-stone and could expand his chest to 37-inches.

He was posted to A Company of the original 14th Battalion and joined the unit at Broadmeadows the following day. Whilst he was in camp, Charlie organised for his photograph to be taken by T. Humphrey & Company in Collins Street, Melbourne. The resulting portrait shows a handsome young man with clear brown eyes, and neatly cut black hair that just peaked out from beneath his army forage cap.

When he enlisted, Charlie stated that he had no previous military experience – he then received just a little over three month’s training before embarking for the Front. He sailed from Port Melbourne on 22 December onboard the troopship Ulysses.

On 11 April 1915 Charlie and the rest of the 14th Battalion struck camp at Helipolis and marched to the train station at Helmieh. They arrived at Alexandria the follow day and immediately boarded the transport Seang Choon to begin the voyage to Gallipoli.

The Seang Choon sailed from Lemnos harbour at 9:30am on the day of the Landing at Gallipoli. They passed Cape Helles, but were still well out to sea when the navy unleashed its major bombardment on the peninsula. The remainder of the day was spent in bringing the wounded onboard and attending to their needs. It wasn’t until 11:15am the following day that the bulk of the 14th Battalion began the transfer to ANZAC Cove.

Confusion on the beach would have made it impossible for Charlie to make any contact with his mates from Ballarat, as a result he had no way of knowing that his friend, Cliff Polkinghorne, had been killed during the early stages of the Landing on 25 April.

As it was, Charlie himself was not to experience a lengthy Gallipoli Campaign: he was killed in action at Courtney’s Post during a Turkish counter-attack on 27 April. He was buried at Quinn’s Post Cemetery in the same grave with his tent mate, Robert Oliver (from Clunes), by Chaplain Andrew Gillison.

In 1924 the Gist and Oliver families were informed that permanent headstones were to be erected in the Quinn’s Post Cemetery bearing the words “Believed to be buried in this Cemetery”. Their actual grave was never discovered.

During World War II, Charlie’s youngest brother, Howard, was serving with the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion when he was captured by the Japanese. He was held as a prisoner of war in Java and Burma. Despite severe deprivation, he survived and returned home at the end of the war.