Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Godfrey Charles CHRISTIANSEN was born on 15th October, 1888 in Laidley, Queensland

His parents were Neils Henrick CHRISTIANSEN & Maree Kristine HANSEN

"DEATH OF AN OFFICER.

A telegram was received at Wooroolin on Tuesday morning announcing the death of Capt. Godfrey Charles Christiansen ftom Bright's disease. The late Capt. Christiansen enlisted about two years ago, and obtained his commission as 2nd lieutenant. He spent some months in Egypt, and for the last year or more had been at the Front in France. He was several times reported as wounded or sick, and was recently invalided home. It was only on October 6 that the family received it cablegram announcing his return home, and that he was on the way. A memorial service for the late Captain Christiansen was held in the Home Creek Methodist Church on Sunday morning, when the Rev. Geo. Laverach delivered an impressive address. A special patriotic memorial service was also held in the Wondai Methodist Church on Sunday evening." - from the Brisbane Courier 15 Oct 1917 (nla.gov.au)

CHRISTIANSEN Godfrey Charles        56th Battalion
 
Godfrey Christiansen was born on 15th October 1888 to parents Niels Heinrich and Maren Christine Christiansen of Laidley Creek, in the Lockyer Valley. He attended Burnside State School in Nambour until the end of 6th Grade. His family would appear to have moved several times and by the time that Godfrey enlisted in 1915, his parents were living at Wooroolin.
 
Godfrey presented himself for enlistment at Bundaberg on 8th May 1915. He gave his address as Garnet Hill, Gin Gin. His father when completing the Roll of Honour circular stated that Godfrey had been an engine driver. This term is a bit ambiguous as it may refer to the driver of a stationary steam engine that operates the machinery of mining operations; or a locomotive driver. Either of these occupations are likely in respect to Godfrey as Gin Gin was on a rail line and there was a branch line from Gin Gin to Mount Perry where there was a copper mine.
 
Once accepted into the AIF; where his attestation papers list his occupation as labourer, Godfrey travelled to Enoggera where he was taken on as a reinforcement for the 9th Battalion. Godfrey was 26 years old and he named his father of Wooroolin as his next of kin. While at Enoggera, Godfrey attended an officers training course and on 30th July 1915, he qualified as a 2nd Lieutenant.
 
On 21st October, Godfrey as officer in charge of a cadre of 100 reinforcements for the 9th Infantry Battalion boarded the “Seang Bee” in Brisbane. The embarkation roll shows that Godfrey’s pay was 15 shillings a day. Ordinary soldiers were paid 5 shillings. When the reinforcements arrived in Egypt the AIF was undergoing an expansion which would double the size of the AIF. Some of the reinforcements would have been taken on by the 9th Battalion and some would have been posted to the newly created 49th Battalion. In the case of Godfrey, he was assigned to the 56th Battalion on 3rd May 1916.
 
In the early years of the war, battalions were raised on a state basis. The 9th Battalion was almost exclusively made up of Queensland enlistments and this arrangement carried over to the 49th Battalion as well. The 56th Battalion had been formed out of the 4th Battalion and both of these units were made up predominantly of men from NSW. Godfrey, as a 2nd Lieutenant, was in charge of a platoon of infantrymen. The 56th battalion was one of four battalions which made up the 14th Brigade of the 5th Division of the AIF.
 
As the AIF was being deployed to the new theatre of operations, the Western Front, the more experienced divisions, the 1st and 2nd which contained a high proportion of Gallipoli veterans left Egypt for France first. The 5th Division which contained fewer experienced men remained in Egypt for some time for additional training. The 56th battalion was one of the last units to leave Egypt, embarking at Alexandria on 19th June for the crossing of the Mediterranean to Marseilles.
 
The 56th arrived in the northern sector of the front around Armentieres where they went into billets at Thiennes. On 12th July 1916, the 56th Battalion along with the other three battalions of the 14th Brigade began to move up to the front line at Fleurbaix, fully observed by the 6th Bavarian Division on Aubers Ridge. It took four days for the entire 5th Division to be in place for an attack against a German strongpoint called the Sugarloaf which lay 400 metres away across dead flat ground offering no cover. The attack was planned for 18th July but wet weather had delayed the operation by a day. The Germans in their heavily protected redoubts taunted the Australians with signs such as “Advance Australia – If You Can” and “You are a day late!!”
 
The Battle which ensued has become known to Australians as Fromelles as this was the nearest town to the site. Wave after wave of Australian Infantry charged out across the open ground to be cut down like wheat before a scythe as the German machine guns commenced a vicious enfilading fire. Casualties were appalling. The Brigadier in charge of the 15th Brigade, “Pompey” Elliott, wept openly as he saw the survivors of the attack crawl back to the Australian front line. Fromelles. The 5th Division suffered 5,500 casualties on 19th and 20th July and was virtually finished as a fighting force for almost 12 months. 2nd Lieutenant Godfrey Christiansen came through the carnage at Fromelles unscathed physically but he was no doubt emotionally drained.
 
The 5th Division returned to their billets at Thiennes to regroup, take on reinforcements and commence training. On 9th September, as the Battle of the Somme continued, Godfrey was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. On 5th October, Godfrey was recommended by his commanding officer for the Military Cross. The citation reads in part “this officer displayed a degree of dash in leading a raiding party against enemy lines.” The award was never promulgated.
 
In November, Godfrey reported to a Military Hospital at Havre with “general debility.” He remained in hospital and various convalescent camps until he received a diagnosis; cerebro spinal meningitis. CSM was a serious disease which could often prove fatal. Godfrey was transferred to the 3rd London General Hospital for treatment in March 1917. A medical report dated 28th March states that Godfrey was “quite well.” He was discharged to the Australian depot at Tidworth barracks and on the 3rd May 1917 boarded a cross channel ferry to France.
 
The 56th Battalion continued training exercises throughout the late spring and summer while shifting from camp to camp on the Somme. The main focus of operations for the AIF had shifted to the Ypres salient in Belgium and four divisions were engaged there while the 5th Division was considered still to fragile to be put into the front line. On 1st July, Godfrey was promoted to Captain in charge of a company. On 8th August, Godfrey went sick, reporting to a hospital at St Omer with severe migraine. Five days later he was transferred back to the 3rd General Hospital in London with the notation “general debility after cerebro spinal meningitis.” On 28th August, Godfrey appeared before a medical board which determined that he should be repatriated back to Australia for “Change.” This was a polite way of saying we are going to discharge you as medically unfit but we will wait until you are back in Australia before it takes effect.
 
Godfrey was transferred to an officer’s convalescent hospital before being loaded onto the transport “Ulysses” for the journey back to Australia on 10th September 1917. As the ship sailed south to its first port of call, the coaling station at Freetown, Sierra Leone, Godfrey became quite ill. Upon reaching Freetown, Godfrey was off loaded to the hospital where he died on 24th September 1917. The official cause of death was “Bright’s Disease,” a general name for a range of kidney diseases such as trench fever. Godfrey’s mother was informed of his death by telegram to Wooroolin on 9th October.
 
Captain Godfrey Christiansen is buried at the Freetown (Old Tom) War Cemetery, Sierra Leone, West Africa. His family chose the following inscription for his headstone:
WE LOVED YOU TOO DEARLY TO EVER FORGET YOU