The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (18857) Gunner Charles Edward Doodson, 3rd Light Trench Mortar Battery, 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 , the story for this day was on (18857) Gunner Charles Edward Doodson, 3rd Light Trench Mortar Battery, First World War.

18857 Gunner Charles Edward Doodson, 3rd Light Trench Mortar Battery
DOW 22 May 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Gunner Charles Edward Doodson.

Charles Doodson was born in Manly on 10 August 1885, the eldest son of Edward and Matilda Doodson. Around the time of his 15th birthday, Charles got into trouble for stealing a horse with a girl named Louisa McNeill. He pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to two months’ hard labour in Armidale Gaol. On his release he sought a life on the sea and spent nearly a decade as a member of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve. He worked for the Port Jackson and Manly Steam Ship Company, and in 1914 obtained his certificate as master of a harbour and river steamer. In 1910 he married Marian Kirk in Sydney.

War broke out in August 1914, and almost immediately Australia sought to seize German territories in New Guinea. The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force was hastily assembled, with 500 naval reservists among its number, including Charles Doodson. The expeditionary force was successful in capturing German radio stations in New Guinea, and occupied the German territory. Charles Doodson spent several months in Rabaul before returning to Australia.

Charles Doodson enlisted in the Australian Imperial in January 1916. By this time two of his brothers, Walter and Fred, had served on Gallipoli. Fred had died of wounds sustained at the landing in April 1915, and Walter had been wounded at Lone Pine in August and sent home an invalid. Charles underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas once again in May 1916, this time with the 7th Field Artillery Brigade.

Gunner Doodson was first sent to England, where he continued training on Salisbury Plain. In September 1916 he was transferred to the 3rd Light Trench Mortar Battery, which would place him closer to the front line than other members of the field artillery. He was sent to France in November 1916, but after about a fortnight fell sick with malaria, which he probably contracted while in New Guinea. He did not take long to recover, and joined his battery in the field early in the new year.

In early May 1917 the 3rd Light Trench Mortar Battery was in the front line near the French village of Noreuil, which had recently been captured by the 50th Battalion. On the 6th they were subjected to an enemy counter attack during which they were forced to withdraw after firing all of their available ammunition. For more than two months there were no records kept of the battery’s activities, although it is likely they remained in action near the Hindenburg Line.
On 15 May 1917, Gunner Charles Doodson was wounded by shell fragments that penetrated his face, shoulder and thigh. He was taken to a nearby casualty clearing station, and eventually on to hospital in Boulogne.

A nurse in the hospital later reported that he was “perfectly conscious” but “too ill to think. He suffered a great deal but was always bright and very grateful.” His worst wound was the one in his thigh, which became gangrenous and septic. The nurse reported that “he was perfectly calm and died quite peacefully at 8.50pm on May 22nd”. He was 31 years old.

Charles Doodson was buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, and a photograph of his grave was sent home to his widow. A year after his death she put a notice in the newspaper that read, “little we thought when we parted, Charl, it would be our last good-bye.” The next year on the anniversary of his death, Marian’s memorial notice was to Charles and his brother Fred, reading “united in life, united in death”. One week later she joined them, dying on 28 May 1919.

Charles Doodson’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 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 Gunner Charles Edward Doodson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section