Driver Charles Wealands, 110th Australian Howitzer Battery
Australian War MemorialPopularly known as “Curly”, Charles Wealands was born in 1892 to Ralph and Eliza Wealands of Tumbarumba, New South Wales.
When he was only eight years old, one of his brothers died, followed a month later by his mother. A year later, Charles was shooting rabbits with his eldest brother, Ralph, and a friend, when Ralph shot himself in the head, dying weeks later of his injuries. Charles gave evidence at an inquest which determined that the incident had been an accident. The family was well respected in the Tumbarumba district, and many attended the funeral.
Charles Wealands grew up to be what was later reported as “a splendid specimen of vigorous manhood” and worked in the district as a labourer.
Wealands enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915. He was posted to the artillery and sent overseas for training in Egypt in October 1915. The following June, he arrived in France with the rank of driver, and went on to join the 110th Australian Howitzer Battery. In March 1917, he was given the temporary rank of bombardier.
Life in the artillery was dangerous. The enemy’s artillery constantly searched for Australian guns, hoping to put them out of action. And the men of the artillery were handling explosives and other dangerous material on a daily basis.
On 14 June 1917, Wealands’s battery was stationed near Messines in Belgium. An ammunition supply dump stood nearby. When a German shell hit this dump, it went up in a massive explosion. Sixteen men were killed outright, three would die of their wounds, and six others were wounded.
Temporary Bombardier Charles Wealand was one of those killed in the blast. His name appears on a nearby monument erected by his comrades, and he was buried in Kandahar Farm Cemetery in Belgium.
In Australia, a memorial service was held in St Jude’s Church of England for him. A large congregation, including Charles’s family, were present to remember the young man. He was 25 years old.
Charles Wealand is also listed on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll, among more than 60,000 Australians who died during the First World War.
Dr Meleah Hampton, Historian, Military History Section
Image: Australians in the trenches near Hill 63, the day prior to the battle of Messines Ridge, in Belgium, looking through field glasses at the village of Messines, 5 June 1917.
