CHARLTON, Alfred John
| Service Number: | 411 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 36th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Lambton, New South Wales, Australia, 1 August 1888 |
| Home Town: | Lambton, Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Lambton Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Railway clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 20 December 1917, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Lambton Fallen Soldiers HR, Parkes Remembrance Walk |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 411, 36th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 411, 36th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Beltana embarkation_ship_number: A72 public_note: '' | |
| 13 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 411, 36th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Beltana, Sydney | |
| 7 Jun 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 36th Infantry Battalion | |
| 7 Jun 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 36th Infantry Battalion | |
| 10 Jun 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 411, 36th Infantry Battalion, Battle of Messines, GSW left arm and legs | |
| 20 Dec 1917: | Involvement 411, 36th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 411 awm_unit: 36th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-12-20 |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
Alfred John CHARLTON (Service Number 411) was born on 1st August 1888 at Lambton. He began working for the NSW Railways as a temporary 3rd class porter in the Traffic Branch in the Newcastle District, on 26 April 1912. He was made permanent a month later and then progressed to be a weigh-clerk at Bullock Island coal terminal, a porter at Newcastle goods yard, a clerk at Bourke and then Singleton before returning to Newcastle, probably nominally, on the day he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces – 1 March 1916 – although he had in fact enlisted six weeks earlier.
Submitted 24 May 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From Gary Mitchell, Sandgate Cemetery.
Memorialised at Sandgate Cemetery.
104 years ago today, on the 20th December 1917, Lance Sergeant Alfred (Fred) John Charlton, 36th Battalion (Reg No-411), railway clerk (Singleton Railway Station, N.S.W.), of 84 Elder Street, Lambton, New South Wales, was Killed in Action at Armentieres, France, age 29.
Born at Lambton, New South Wales on the 1st August 1888 to Edward (Mayor of Lambton, died 1938) and Isabella Charlton (nee Dorrity), Fred enlisted January 1916 at Newcastle, N.S.W.
Wounded in action - 10.6.1917 (GSW left arm, both legs, buttocks, severe, Battle of Messines).
Fred is resting at Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres, France. Plot I Row C Grave 42.
Mr. Charlton’s name has been inscribed on the Lambton Post Office Roll of Honor (photo, unveiled on the 8th July 1916, 5 names originally inscribed, 32 names now inscribed of the Fallen - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133876591), Lambton and New Lambton Roll of Honor, New Lambton Public School Roll of Honour, New Lambton War Memorial Gates, Lambton Lodge Independent Order of Oddfellows Roll of Honour, NSW Govt Railways and Tramways Roll of Honour, 1914-1919 and The Capt. Clarence Smith Jeffries (V.C.) and Pte. William Matthew Currey (V.C.) Memorial Wall.
I have placed poppies at the Charlton gravesite in remembrance of their son’s service and supreme sacrifice for God, King & Country. METHODIST 2 (PRIMITIVE) 19 SW. 35.
Contact with descendants would be greatly appreciated.
Lest We Forget.
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Alfred John CHARLTON (Service Number 411) was born on 1st August 1888 at Lambton. He began working for the NSW Railways as a temporary 3rd class porter in the Traffic Branch in the Newcastle District on 26th April 1912. He was made permanent a month later and then progressed to be a weigh-clerk at Bullock Island coal terminal, a porter at Newcastle goods yard, a clerk at Bourke and then Singleton before returning to Newcastleh. He was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces on 1st March 1916.
He left Australia via Sydney on HMAT ‘Beltana’ on 13th May. He reached Devonport, UK, on 9th July. He proceeded overseas to France on 22 November. On 31st May 1917 he was promoted to Corporal and immediately Lance-Sergeant.
Ten days later he was wounded in action. He had multiple gunshot wounds to his arms, leg and buttock. He was admitted to the 3rd Canadian General Hospital at Boulogne. He was sent to England where he moved through a series of hospitals and Command Depots before returning to the front via Southampton. He rejoined the 36th Battalion in Belgium on 22nd November.
He was killed in action on 20th December 1917. He is buried in the Cité Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentières, Lille, Pas de Calais, France.
- based on notes for the Grreat Sydney Central Station Honour Board
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