Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Charles Antonio Foster Turner was the second son of Emma Matt and Charles Richard Turner. Charles enlisted in the A.I.F. on the 28th of August 1914 just 24 days after the declaration of war. He states at enlistment that he had two years’ experience with the 6th Battery Field Artillery. This may have been the colonial unit formed from the original militia, Hastings Battery, Victorian Rangers (Halbish, 2013). Because of his previous artillery experience he was assigned to the 5th Battery, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade (2nd FAB). This was the same brigade that his cousin Frank Oswald Matt was assigned to, and it is probable that the two cousins spent some time together during training and on the journey to the middle east.

Charles embarked Melbourne on the 21st of October 1914 aboard the Shropshire bound for the middle east via Albany, Western Australia. On arrival in Egypt the allied high command diverted the 1st Division to the Gallipoli campaign and the division embarked for Anzac Cove. The artillery managed to land a portion of the headquarters and one gun on the beach that fateful day on the 25th of April 1915. The remaining guns were offloaded over the next few days and weeks. The two cousins Charles and Frank although assigned to different batteries would surely have been a great comfort to each other. Frank who had a very cool head under fire and had the respect and admiration of his commanding officer would have been an ideal mentor to the more unruly Charles. The chaos, stress and vile conditions on Gallipoli can only be imagined and on June 9th, 1915, just fourteen days after the landing Charles was fined twenty-one days’ pay for disobeying orders. Shortly after this he was sent for twenty days leave at the rest camp in Lemnos, Greece where he may well have caught up with Frank who had been transferred to the hospital at Mudros. Both cousins returned to Gallipoli together on the 6th of October. Charles was evacuated from Gallipoli on the 24th of November 1915, bound for Alexandria, Egypt. Elements of the 2nd FAB remained in action until the 15th of December.

Sickness, disease, malnutrition, and exhaustion would plague combat troops throughout the war and Charles would receive his share of illness, beginning with a bout of jaundice which saw him in hospital for the entire month of January 1916. In March 1916 a fourth battery of four 18 pounder field guns was added to the 1st Division in preparation for the Somme battlefield. Troops were drawn from new reinforcements and even some Light Horse detachments. It was during this re-organisation that Charles met his good friend Jack Tilton. Artillery Brigades were given an additional Howitzer Battery each, equipped with 4 x 4.5-inch howitzers. Howitzers fired a heavier weight shell at a high angle so they were not affected by “terrain masking” in the same way as flatter trajectory 18 pounder field guns. The two cousins, Charles and Frank were together again for the move to France, disembarking at the Port of Marseilles on the 28th of March 1916.

The 1st Division was initially sent to a relatively quiet part of the front line around Armentieres where they held the line, trained their newly formed units and reinforcements. The British high command was determined to take the high ground on which the village of Pozieres was situated. The 1st Division attacked after midnight on the 23rd of July 1916. The division succeeded in occupying only half of the heavily fortified town before the Germans countered with an intense artillery barrage. The Germans made three determined counter attacks on the allied positions at Pozieres, but each was broken by the allied artillery and machine gun fire. Charles would have been in constant action during the battle, the noise and concussion from the artillery must have been devastating. The division was eventually withdrawn after sustaining 5285 casualties amongst the dead was Charles’s cousin Frank Oswald Matt. In August the division was in action again along the Pozieres ridge losing another 2000 men in the process. In September the division was sent to the area round Ypres in Belgium for respite but were soon recalled to the Somme where they were involved in action around Gueudecourt under the most terrible wet conditions.

The failed attempt to take Bullecourt in April 1917 and the subsequent action around Arras stretched the 5th Army’s front line leaving the 1st Division to defend some 12,000 yards of ground. The German high command sought to exploit this apparent weakness and launched an offensive at Lagnicourt on the 15th of April committing some 23 battalions, opposing them was four Australian battalions. During the heavy fighting some of the 1st Divisions artillery batteries were overrun and some of the big guns were destroyed. Jack Tilton was captured during this action and would see out the war in a POW camp. Despite the pressure from the Germans the line held, and the attack was repulsed. The 1st Division suffered nearly 1000 casualties during the attack. In May the 5th Army launched the second battle of Bullecourt relying heavily on an artillery barrage to soften the German defences. The 1st Division was again in the thick of the fighting and this time the assault was successful but at a high cost in young lives. After a short respite the 1st Divisions artillery was put into action during the 3rd battle of Ypres and during the second phase of the battle in September ground troops were committed in support of the 2nd Division. It was during this heavy fighting around Ypres that Charles was seriously wounded in a gas attack on the 30th of October 1917, just nine days after his promotion to Corporal. Between the months of March and November 1917 the 1st Division suffered more than 6000 men killed or injured and consequently only featured in support roles during the last weeks of 1917.

Charles was evacuated to Reading War Hospital in England and he remained there until May 1918 when he was sent back to France. Charles was entitled to special ANZAC leave; this privilege was given to men who had been early 1914 enlistments and who were still on active service. As a sign of their status eligible troops were given an ANZAC leave rosette to wear on each shoulder of their uniform. Due to his special status and ill health Charles was put on the hospital ship Suevic and embarked for Australia from England on the 20th of November 1918. The medical board reviewed Charles’s case and he was given a medical discharge from the A.I.F. on the 21st of March 1919 with a 50% incapacity due to gas poisoning.

Charles returned to a normal life in Melbourne resuming work with the railways as a station master and also received an army pension of £1/1. In 1923 Charles married Daisy Winifred Merson (nee Cooper) a widow with three children. The family lived at 99 Eskdale Road Caufield and together they had a daughter, Shirley Turner. Charles continued to have health problems over the next few years with a chronic cough accompanied by coughing fits. Over the next five years Charles’s mental and physical health deteriorated and this was not helped by his job as he was frequently working away from home in Gippsland where the cold climate caused him frequent bouts of bronchitis. Sadly, Charles was found dead at home on January 2, 1928. At the subsequent inquest ample evidence was presented of Charles’s deteriorating physical and mental state and after considering the evidence the Repatriation Commission found that Charles’s death was a direct result of his war service.