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Charles Joseph Gerald Raynor

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Charles Joseph Gerald Raynor
Raynor Charles Joseph Gerald.jpg
Western Mail 17 Nov 1916 p.23
Personal Information
Date of Birth unknown
"unknown" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Place of Birth Carlton, Victoria
Death 3 Sep 1916
Place of Death Mouquet Farm, Poziéres, France
Age at Enlistment 22 years, 9 months
Description 5' 6½" (1.66m) tall ; ; fair complexion ; blue eyes ; brown hair
Occupation Farmer
Religion Roman Catholic
Address NOK 'Charlesville', Kelmscott, Western Australia
Next of Kin Father , Mr Harold George Raynor
Military Information
Reg Number 2780A
Date of Enlistment 19 Aug 1915
Rank Private
Unit/Formation 28th Battalion, 6th reinforcements, transferred to 51st Battalion
Date of Embarkation 2 Nov 1915 ‒ 26 Nov 1915
Ship Embarked On HMAT A38 Ulysses
Fate Misssing in Action 3 Sep 1916, later declared Killed in Action.
Monument Villers-Bretonneux Memorial
WA State War Memorial
Australian War Memorial
Medals 1914-15 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal




Pre War

War Service

Entered camp on 19 Aug 1915 and was allocated to the 24th Depot Company for basic training. From 27 Oct 1915 until they shipped out for Egypt, and after their arrival until 2 Mar 1916 he remained with the 6th Reinforcement draft for the 28th Battalion training with the 7th Training Battalion at Zeitoun. With the reorganisation of the Army, he was allotted to the newly formed 51st Battalion, joining it on 3 Mar 1916 at Tel-el-Kebir. Soon after he travelled with the battalion on the HMT Ivernia from Alexandria to Marseilles arriving there on 12 Jun 1916.

On 3 Sep 1916 near Mouquet Farm in the midst of furious fighting he was posted as Missing in Action. On 30 Jul 1917 a Court of Enquiry judged that he had been Killed in Action, one of 11,000 Australian casualties suffered while trying to capture this strong point in the German line.

During the attack that Robert participated in (the ninth and final Australian attack) the farm was taken, but later lost again following an intense German bombardment on the farm itself. As no body was found or identified, we might assume that Robert was impacted by the artillery barrage, either to cause his death, or following it.

The Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux records: "RAYNOR, Pte. Charles Joseph Gerald, 2780A. 51st Bn. 3rd Sept., 1916. Age 23. Son of Harold George and Catherine Raynor of "Charleville", Kelmscott, Western Australia. Born in Melbourne.

His Red Cross file [1]. held by the Australian War Memorial adds nothing to our understanding of the circumstances of his death.

A farmer when he transferred from the Militia to the AIF, he changed his NOK to Mother (Dumbleyung). Also had a brother William Harold who used a Dumbleyung address.

Gratuity payment 40/- per fortnight to his mother Catherine from 7 Dec 1916.

  • Villers-Bretonneux Memorial 2015 photo
  • section of 51st Bn tablet at Villers-Bretonneux L Reynolds photo


Notes

Parents lived in Kelmscott

  1. "Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files - Charles Joseph Gerald Raynor". Australian War Memorial. 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018. 

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