The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (7134) Lance Corporal Charles Frederic Giles Chopin 17th 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 Richad Cruise, the story for this day was on (7134) Lance Corporal Charles Frederic Giles Chopin 17th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

7134 Lance Corporal Charles Frederic Giles Chopin 17th Battalion, AIF
DOW 3 October 1918
Story delivered 3 October 2018


Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Charles Frederic Giles Chopin.

Charles Chopin was born on 14 May 1900 to Frederic and Emily Chopin of Candelo, New South Wales. The family lived in the Shellharbour area, where Frederic was made the principal of Shellharbour Public School in 1902. Three years later, after the birth of the couple’s fourth child, Charles’s mother died suddenly.

Charles attended Shellharbour Public School and then North Sydney Boys’ High School, where he was a member of the school’s senior cadets. While he was in high school, the First World War began. Chopin was eager to serve his country and feared that the war would be over before he could do his bit. At the age of 17, he put his age up to 18 and, with his father’s permission, enlisted for service with the AIF on 16 July 1917. After initial training, he was allocated to reinforcements to the 17th Battalion.

In September the townsfolk of Shellharbour gave a farewell party for Chopin and one of his childhood friends who had also enlisted. After a final leave, he embarked from Sydney with his unit aboard the transport ship Euripides on 31 October.

After arriving in England in December, Chopin spent several months at camp in Wiltshire. Here, he underwent further training for service on the Western Front. He was sent to France on 1 April 1918, and a little over a week later, was sent forward to join the 17th Battalion.

Chopin was taken on strength and posted to C Company. He was quickly accepted by his comrades and was given the nickname “Chopper”. Over the next three months, the battalion saw front-line service in several sectors, including near Villers–Bretonneux, which had fallen to the Australians in April. At the end of July, Chopin was promoted to lance corporal.

Chopin saw his first major action on 8 August, when the 17th Battalion was involved in the battle of Amiens, the beginning of the final allied offensive. After a brief rest out of the line, the battalion returned to the front line on 26 August and took part in the battle of Mont St Quentin.

On the morning of 3 October, the 17th Battalion was involved in the attack to capture the Beaurevoir Line, and quickly captured the village of Wiencourt. A little after 10.30 in the morning, the men resumed their advance towards Montbrehain. Chopin, a member of a Lewis gun team, was severely wounded in the head and chest by a shell burst which also killed the other member of his team. Chopin was carried back to the 6th Australian Field Ambulance, where he died shortly after. He was 18 years old.

Charles Chopin was laid to rest the following morning in the Bellicourt British Cemetery.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with around 60,000 others from the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lance Corporal Charles Frederic Giles Chopin, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section