EACOTT, Charles Arthur
Service Number: | 6987 |
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Enlisted: | 20 October 1916 |
Last Rank: | Private |
Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
Born: | Daylesford, Victoria, July 1893 |
Home Town: | Longwarry, Baw Baw, Victoria |
Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
Occupation: | Farmer |
Died: | Killed in Action, Polygon Wood, Ypres, Belgium, 20 September 1917 |
Cemetery: |
Birr Cross Roads Cemetery Joint graves, Plot I, Row D Graves 19 and 20 (with Private 6509 Henry Russell Huntsman). , Birr Cross Roads Cemetery, Flanders, Belgium |
Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Longwarry War Memorial, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
20 Oct 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1 | |
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23 Nov 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 6987, 7th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
23 Nov 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 6987, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne |
Help us honour Charles Arthur Eacott's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Julianne Ryan
Born July 1893 in Daylesford, Victoria
Father William James Eacott
(b. 30/07/1855 Galmorgan, Tasmania - d. 17/07/1911); and
Mother Mrs Mary Ellen Eacott (nee Towers)
(b. 1866 Carlton, VIC - d. 19/03/1932 Longwarry, VIC)
(both buried in Drouin West Cemetery, Longwarry, VIC)
Charles lived with his parents at Sand Road, Longwarry, Victoria on enlisting.
Siblings:
Clara Blanch Maud (Eacott) Tibbits b. 1885 Glenlyon, VIC - d.08/06/1943 Perth, WA
m. 1905 - John Markham Tibbits
lived at 30 McLaron Street, Boulder City, Western Australia
Anne Eacott b. 1886 Glenlyon, VIC - d. 1887 in Daylesford, VIC
William Eacott b. 1889 in Glenlyon, VIC - d. 30/07/1937
buried in Drouin West Cemetery
Joseph Henry Eacott b. 1891 Daylesford, VIC - 1963 Warragul, VIC
Percy Edward Eacott b. 1895 in Longwarry, VIC - d. 1948 in Bunyip, VIC
Bridget Eacott b.1900 in Longwarry, VIC - d. 26 Oct 1978 at Longwarry, VIC
Next-of-kin in service:
Brother:
20240 Gunner Joseph Henry EACOTT, 8th Field Artillery Brigade
b. April 1891 Daylesford, Victoria
28/12/1915 enlisted in Melbourne, VIC
20/05/1916 embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A7 Medic
as a Gunner with 8th Field Artillery Brigade, Brigade Ammunition Column
11/05/1919 returned to Australia onboard HT Zealandia, ex England
28/06/1919 disembarked into Australia
04/09/1919 discharged from service
1923 MARRIED: Elizabeth (Hanna) Eacott
1963 Joseph passed away in Warrgul, Victoria
Cousins:
2168 Corporal Francis Thomas EACOTT, 1st Battalion
15/10/1915 enlisted in Melbourne, VIC
09/03/1916 embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A13 Katuna
as a Private with with 1st Battalion
04/01/1917 Killed in action - Jeancourt, France
No known grave
His name is commemorated on:
- Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France
- Panel 28 at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT
22511 Driver Samuel Henry Eacott - 8th Field Artillery Brigade
(brother to Francis above)
11/01/1916 enlisted in Melbourne, VIC
20/05/1916 embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A7 Medic
as a Driver with 23rd Howitzer Brigade, 1st reinforcements
last rank: Driver with 8th Field Artillery Brigade
11/05/1919 returned to Australia onboard HT Borda
27/06/1919 disembarked into Australia
11/08/1919 discharged from service
1929 MARRIED Leila Victoria Eacott (nee Boulton)
1974 Samuel passed away in Warragul, Victoria
Charles was described on enlisting as 23 years 3 months of age; single; fresh complexion;
grey eyes; brown hair; Church of England
20/10/1916 enlisted at Warragul, Victoria
14/11/1916 appointed to 23rd reinforcements, 7th Infantry Battalion, Royal Park Camp
23/11/1916 embarked Port of Melbourne, VIC onboard HMAT A20 Hororata
as a Private with 7th Battalion, 23rd Reinforcement
29/01/1917 disembarked into Plymouth, England
22/02/1917 sick to hospital, England
12/03/1917 marched into 2nd Training Battalion
14/05/1917 proceeded overseas to France, ex Folkestone
28/05/1917 taken on srength 7th Battalion in France
20/09/1917 hit by a shell and knocked unconscious - killed in action
at Black Watch Corner, Polygon Wood, Belgium
Buried in: the side of the trench of where he was killed
(noted by his comrades in his battalion)
Buried alongside Private 1945 William Gilbert Grace and
Private 6509 Henry Russell Huntsman - all killed together.
23/01//1918 stated by Private 6479 Edward Henry Coningsby - 7th Battalion - London
"re 6509 Pte H R Huntsman reported killed in action. I am pleased that I
can give you the particulars you require of his death as I happened to be
near by when it happened. It was on Sept. 20th about mid-day we had
reached our final objective and consolidated our position. Pte Huntsman
was on post, near him was Lieutenant Attwood, Pte Grace and Pte Eacott.
A shell burst and killed the four of them and wounded three others.
His personal belongings were taken from his pockets and handed into
battalion office from there they would be forwarded to his mother.
Lieutenant Attwood's body was taken away by stretcher bearers and
Pte Huntsman, Grace and Eacott were buried side by side near where
they fell. It was just near Polygon Wood.
We erected three little wooden crosses and attached the identity disc
which is used for that purpose, so you will see they were buried on the
field.
I came over with the same reinforcements as Pte Huntsman, was in camp
in England with him and we also came over to France on the same draft
and joined the battalion the same time.
I always found him a good comrade. He was very popular with all the
boys in the platoon, we wer very sorry to lose him.
If it is his mother who is enquiring about him, you may offer her my
sincerest sympathy. I used to work near her shop in Praran and knew her
but she wound not know me."
Sadly - Pte 6479 E H Coningsby was killed in action 7 months to the day of this statement
on 23/08/1918 at St Martins Wood
buried in: Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, France
Plot III, Row G, Grave No. 14
Nov 2014 Confirmed by: Researchers
Andrew Pittaway, of Fremantle and Dennis Frank, of Melbourne
they wrote to Brigadier Appleton outlining their case
Brigadier Appleton said the researchers' case was confirmed by research by
the Office of Australian War Graves and the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission.
He said "Mr Pittaway was 'an extraordinary man'. As a result of his work,
we've been able to identify the graves of two Australians, by name,
and previously they'd been known only to God."
Keith Huntsman, 92, of Blackburn, nephew of Private Huntsman, thanked Mr Pittaway and Mr Frank for tracking down his uncle Harry. "It's a very fine service to the community," he said. "It's always been unfinished business in that Harry's grave has never been found."
Private Eacott's great-niece Sandra Johnston, of the Gold Coast, QLD, said she is happy there will be a grave for future generations to visit, and relatives had commented on "what fantastic work" the researchers had done. She wants to attend the ceremony in Belgium.
20/9/2015 A rededication service was held at the Birr Cross Roads Cemetery, Belgium.
later his body was exhumed and reburied in:
Birr Cross Roads Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium
Joint grave Plot I, Row D, Graves 19-20
(with Private 6509 Henry Russell Huntsman)
Pte 1945 William Gilbert Grace is buried alongside the joint grave at Plot I, Row D, Grave 18.
His name is commemorated on:-
- Panel 7 at The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium; and
- Panel 49 at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT
Medals: British War medal (53532), Victory medal (52732)
Memorial Plaque and Scroll (332052)
Submitted by Julianne T Ryan. 16/01/2017. Lest we forget.
Biography
The final resting place of Pte Charles EACOTT was previously under a headstone bearing the inscriptions “A Soldier of the Great War” in the Birr Cross Roads Cemetery, Belgium. It was identified (along with others) by researchers Andrew Pittaway and Dennis Frank of the volunteer group Fallen Diggers.
Brother: 20240 Gunner Joseph Henry EACOTT, 8th Field Artillery Brigade, returned to Australia, 11 May 1919;
Cousin: 2168 Corporal Francis Thomas EACOTT, 1st Bn, Killed in action, 4 January 1917.