LTCOL Charles Hercules Green
41st Battalion AssociationDedicated to the memory of LTCOL Charles Hercules Green DSO.
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hercules Green DSO (26 December 1919 – 1 November 1950) was a senior officer in the Australian Army. He served as a battalion commander in World War II, in the Citizens Military Forces (with 41RNSWR) after the war and again later during the Korean War. This was where he was killed in action while commanding the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. At 25 years old, he was the youngest battalion commander in the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF), and was reputed to have been one of the Australian Army's better unit-level commanders.
Battle-weary after a two-day campaign in Chongju, Korea, Lt-Col Charlie Green was resting in his tent when a shell struck his position and a piece of shrapnel wounded him. His first question was “are the boys all right?” Eight days earlier, the 30-year-old had successfully commanded the soldiers of 3RAR, whom he held in high regard, through the Battle of the Apple Orchard in Yongju, and three days after that through the Battle of the Broken Bridge in Kujin.
On July 27, 2019, almost 70 years after he died from his shrapnel wound, Lt-Col Green was posthumously awarded the Republic of Korea’s second highest military honour, the Order of Military Merit (Eulji).
