COOTES, Charles James
| Service Number: | 2617 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 56th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bombala, New South Wales, Australia, 24 March 1893 |
| Home Town: | Cathcart, Bombala, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tailor |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 3 April 1917, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
Pozières British Cemetery Plot II, Row D, Grave No. 17. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2617, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 2617, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 2617, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 3 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 56th Infantry Battalion | |
| 27 Mar 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 56th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Charles James Cootes's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Charles was the son of Samuel Charles and Elizabeth Cootes, of Cathcart, New South Wales. Two of his brothers also served in the AIF, one was badly wounded in the same action in which Charles was mortally wounded.
Charles Cootes wrote a letter home which was published in the local paper shortly after his death.
“I noticed that quite a lot of the chaps there have applied for exemption from enlisting. They ought to try and warm their feet and do their bit for sunny Australia, for there is no place in the world like it, and a fellow doesn't know it until he has left it. I've been in the firing line now for eight months, never out of reach of a shell, and, although it's not the game it's cracked up to be, I'm glad I didn't miss it.”
Charles survived the Battle of Fromelles but suffered a severe gunshot wound to the abdomen during April 1917. He made it to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station but died the next day.
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