RICKARD, Charles Ernest
| Service Number: | 4879 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Guildford, Victoria, Australia, July 1883 |
| Home Town: | Northam, Northam, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Teamster |
| Died: | Killed in action, Mouquet Farm, France, 3 September 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Aveluy Wood Cemetery, (Lancashire Dump), Mesnil-Martinsart Plot I, Row L, Grave No. 7. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Northam Fallen |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4879, 11th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4879, 11th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4879, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Fremantle | |
| 3 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 4879, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4879 awm_unit: 51 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-09-03 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Charles Rickard was the son of John and Elizabeth Rickard of Brunswick, Victoria. He had been born in Guilford, Victoria. His father, John, had passed away in 1902, when Charles was about 19 years old. He married Amy Rebecca Dimmett in Perth, Western Australia a few years later and they had one son when he enlisted.
His younger brother, 1281 Private Augustus Rickard 38th Battalion AIF was later killed in action at Messines 7 June 1917, age 30.
Charles was one many hundreds of men from the 51st Battalion who went missing during the unit’s heavy fighting at Mouquet Farm on 3 September 1916. In fact, Charles’s Red Cross wounded and missing file encapsulates what was known of many of the missing. It simply states, “The only information that can be ascertained concerning No.4879 Pte. C.E. Rickard is that he is ‘missing in action’ since 3.9.1916 and that no one of his late Company can give particulars regarding him. The Adjutant, 51st Battalion.”
Charles’s remains were found in May 1923, and identified along with 13 other soldiers of the 51st Battalion and six unknown Australian soldiers. They were all reinterred in Avuley Wood Cemetery.
He was identified by the presence of his identity disc and his wife was sent the recovered disc during late 1923.