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Charles Thomas Patrick Thorne - Information

Charles was born in Ingleburn in 1887 to Charles and Matilda Thorne. When the war began, Charles was living with his family at Argyle on Illawarra Rd in Marrickville. Here, he worked as a bridge and wharf carpenter. As the Somme casualty lists mounted, Charles believed it was time to do his duty and sign up. He enlisted in the AIF at the Royal Showground Camp on the 3rd of September 1916, aged 28. He trained at Moore Park, the Dubbo Depot and then at Liverpool Depot. He was finally posted to the 17th Reinforcements, 21st Battalion as a Private. He set out from Sydney on the HMAT Afric on the 3rd of November 1916.

Charles arrived in Plymouth in early January 1917. He received further training at the 6th Training Battalion in Larkhill, before he was shipped out to France in late March. He joined the 21st Battalion on the 1st of April, just before they attacked the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt. The 21st Battalion's next objective was in the Ypres Sector in Belgium, where Charles was appointed Lance Corporal on the 3rd of August. During this campaign, the 21st participated in attacks on Broodseinde Ridge on the 4th of October. Here, Charles was wounded in action, with a bullet striking his left hand. Two days later, he was invalided to the UK and admitted to Edmonton Military Hospital. The damage to his hand's dexterity was irreparable and he subsequently received his travel orders for home. He departed England for Australia on the 30th of January 1918. He reunited with his family, and by 1934, Charles was living in Bellawongerah near Berry.