The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6038) Private Charles Edwin Cameron, 23rd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Charis May, the story for this day was on (6038) Private Charles Edwin Cameron, 23rd Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6038 Private Charles Edwin Cameron, 23rd Battalion, AIF
KIA 17 August 1918
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 22 February 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Charles Edwin Cameron.

Popularly known as “Charlie”, Charles Cameron was born in Deniliquin, New South Wales, to Alexander and Margaret Cameron in 1883. He attended the local public school, and went on to become a coach driver before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in early October 1916.

He was posted to the 23rd Battalion, and by the end of the month had sailed for overseas service on board the troopship Argyllshire. On the journey he met Stanley Ellem, and the two became good mates.

Cameron and Ellem arrived in Plymouth, England, in January 1917 and continued training on the Salisbury Plain before joining their battalion on the Western Front in early April. A month later they were in the front line near the French village of Noreuil, and on 4 May Cameron was wounded in the left leg. The wounds were serious enough to be considered life-threatening, and after receiving emergency care in France he was sent to England, where he took several months to recover.

Cameron returned to the 23rd Battalion in France in October 1917. Apart from a short period of leave in Paris, he remained with the battalion into the summer of 1918. On 4 July 1918 it participated in an operation to capture the French village of Hamel. The operation was successful, and the battalion suffered only minimal casualties. One of those casualties, however, was Private Cameron.

This time he had been wounded in his side. He was taken to hospital in Le Havre, and recovered after several weeks of treatment, returning to his battalion at the end of July.

Within days, Cameron participated in the battle of Amiens, and the battalion continued to advance in the wake of the operation’s success. On 17 August Cameron was with his mate Sergeant Stanley Ellem in an old French trench, talking about the plan for their next attack, when an artillery shell fell among their group, killing three and wounding several others.

Sergeant Ellem was knocked unconscious. When he came to, he found Cameron lying beside him, seriously wounded. Cameron’s arm and thigh were shattered, and shell fragments had pierced his abdomen in at least two places. He said to Ellem: “they have done for me this time, Stan. Write and tell mother how I died, and tell her I have always tried to do my bit, and not to worry for me.” Shortly afterwards he fell unconscious. Although Ellem and others were able to bandage him up and get him on a stretcher, Charlie Cameron died before he had been carried more than a few yards.

Sergeant Ellem kept his promise, and wrote to Mrs Cameron of her son’s death, finishing by saying:

thus passed away your dear boy, and our sincere friend and comrade whom we all admired greatly, for Charlie was one of the bravest and most conscientious soldiers in this battalion … He fought cleanly and gamely at all times, and it is due to heroes such as he that we have achieved a glorious victory.

Private Cameron was 35 years old. He was buried on the battlefield, but after the war his remains were moved to Heath Cemetery at Harbonnières, under the words, “In loving memory of the dear son of A and M Cameron of Deniliquin”.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Charles Edwin Cameron, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section