The AIF Project

Charles Adolphus WITT

Regimental number4330
Place of birthGunnedah, New South Wales
SchoolNarrabri West Public School, New South Wales
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationEngine driver
AddressCooma, West Narrabri, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Height5' 2.5"
Weight112 lbs
Next of kinFather, J Witt, Cooma, West Narrabri, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date14 September 1915
Place of enlistmentNarrabri, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name3rd Battalion, 13th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/20/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A60 Aeneas on 20 December 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll3rd Battalion
FateKilled in Action 24 July 1916
Age at death from cemetery records27
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
35
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Allotted to and proceeded to join 2nd Bn, Zeitoun, 14 February 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 22 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 28 March 1916.

Found guilty, 7 April; 1916, of being absent from 0800 to 1915 (11 hours 15 minutes); disobedience of orders; drunk; using threatening language to an NCO: awarded 14 days' Field Punishment No 2, and forfeited 1 day's pay under Royal Warrant.

Found guilty, 27 May 1916, of disobedience of orders, viz. absent from Billet at 2100, 26 May 1916: awarded 7 days' Field Punishment No 1.

Admitted to Detention Barracks, 28 May 1916; rejoined Bn, 2 June 1916.

Killed in action, 24 July 1916.

Handwritten note on Form B103: 'Buried in Vicinity of Pozieres (Sheet 57 D. SE) X5-X4.' Grave subsequently lost.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2555, WITT Charles Adolphus

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