Allen Hancock shares the story of family member Charlie Weaver Vessey.

Charlie Weaver Vessey was born in 1897 to Frederick and Lydia Vessey and spent most of his early years living in Tennyson Street, Kew. Charlie’s older sister, Daisy, was my wife’s grandmother.

Charlie enlisted to serve in World War I on 20 July 1914. He left Australia bound for Egypt as a reinforcement for the 14th Battalion in Gallipoli, arriving in Alexandria in January 1916. In June, Charlie’s unit boarded ship in Alexandria, disembarking in Marseilles. As the new 4th Division began to assemble in France, Charlie was transferred into the newly formed 4th Light Trench Mortar Battery at Bois Grenier, a village outside Armentieres.

In August 1916, Charlie’s unit moved into the front line near an otherwise unremarkable location known as Mouquet Farm. After weeks in the mud, on 28 August, Charlie’s unit rested near Albert when Charlie received a shrapnel wound to his thigh during a bombing attack by German aircraft.  After a few days in hospital Charlie re-joined his unit as they boarded a train bound for Poperinge in Flanders.

Charlie spent the winter of 1916-17 slogging from one location to another as his unit moved into and out of the line. On 10 April 1917 the men of the 4th Brigade, which included Charlie’s unit, lay on the frozen ground waiting in the darkness for the infamous attack on Bullecourt. The attack was postponed to the following day and as the foggy dawn lifted to reveal the men withdrawing to their lines, Charlie was seriously injured from a gunshot wound to the neck and cheek. Charlie was evacuated to England and after months in hospital, Charlie returned to Australia and was discharged in February 1918.