Private: 484 Charles Edward LEE.

34th BATTALION - 4th BATTALION AIF

Private: 484 Charles Edward LEE.

Born: 1890. Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. (No Record)

Married: 1909. Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Marriage Cert:5464/1909.

Wife: Mary Lee. nee: Perry.

Died: 4th October 1917. Died of Wounds, Belgium.

Father: Thomas Lee.

Mother: Ann Lee. nee:

INFORMATION

Charles Edward Lee enlisted with the AIF on the 24th January 1916 embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on 2 May 1916 and disembarked at Plymouth, England on the 23rd June 1916.

34th Battalion men Bulford, England. 1916

Back Row Left: Private: 484 Charles Edward LEE. Private: 493 Clarence William MATTHEWS. Sergeant: 581 David WEINBURG. Private: 440 George GLOVER.

Middle Row Left: Private: T HEATON?. Private: 407 Henry DEMPSEY. Sergeant: 432 Frederick GALLEGHAN. Private: 490 Cecil MALONEY.

Front Row Left: Private: 358 Robert ATKINSON. Sergeant: 392 Cornelius CROESE.

Charles proceeded overseas for France on the 16th September 1916 to reinforce the 4th Battalion AIF and disembarked at Estaples the next morning. He remained in billets until the 30th September when he was marched out to the lines before he was Taken on in Strength with the 4th Battalion on the 2nd October 1916. Charles was admitted to the Field Hospital on the 24th January 1917 suffering from Myalgia and was transported by the No:3 Ambulance Train to the 3rd Stationary Hospital for further treatment.

Charles was discharged from Hospital and reported to the Convalescent Depot on the 3rd of February before he rejoined the 4th Battalion on the 17th of February where he was attached to the 1st Light Trench Mortar Battery.

17th July 1917.

Field Court Martial. CHARGE:- Conduct to the prejudice and good order and Military Discipline in that he on the 6th July 1917 said in the presence of an Officer "The Officer we've got would get a man shot, and I don't know how some of them got their decorations" or words to that effect. FINDING:- GUILTY. SENTENCE:- 60 Days Forfeit Pay.

Brigadier General: W.B. LESSLIE. Commanding 1st Australian Infantry Brigade.

Charles rejoined the 4th Battalion in France on the 28th of July and was Wounded in Action on the 4th October but later Died of Wounds and is remembered with honour and is commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at the Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendaele, Belgium

8th April 1918.

Informant: Private: 1058 P BESTTIE A Company 17th Platoon, 4th Battalion AIF. Private: 484 Charles Edward LEE was A Company Stretcher Bearer. I knew him well we called him 'Charlie' he came I think from Maitland, N.S.W. On the 4th October we were attacking and took a farm on the Passchendaele front; after we got to our objective which we held I saw LEE hit by a part of a shell. He had a broken leg, also hit in his shoulder. I was told by Stretcher Bearer JONES of the 4th Battalion A Company (who was with the Battalion when I left on the 12th March) that he went up to LEE to bind him up, and LEE said to him "look after the other men, I am all right". I know that Stretcher Bearer JONES took him away on a stretcher and I heard he had died of wounds.

Harve Hospital, France.

Tyne Cot Cemetery (Plot XL, Row E, Grave No. 20), Passchendaele, Belgium

Charles's Victory Medal:38147 to 484 PTE C.E. LEE 4 B.N. A.I.F. was acquired in April 2021 and is now in the Harrower Collection. His medal was sold in September 2023.

Family Information

Charles was a married 26 year old Miner from Wallace Street, West Wallsend, New South Wales upon his enlistment with the AIF. He was married with 1 child at the time of his enlistment but his wife gave birth to the second child after he lest for England. His daughters were Mona Lee and Florence Myrtle Lee.

Military Records