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WW1
Cearns, Charles Cecil
One of the late Corporal Charles Cearn's comrades writing to Mr. J. W. Cearns relates how his son met his death in France. The letter says: - "It must have been a terrible shock to you when you heard the sad news. Hardly anyone in the battery can believe that Charlie has passed away. I can truthfully say he was easily the most popular young fellow in the battery, always so nice and kind-hearted to everybody. The day before he died he gave me 20 francs' to buy some extras from the canteen for his sub-section (D) That was only one of the many good things he did. He was in charge of D gun and would have been sergeant had he lived by this time. He was so keen to have charge of a gun and just as he seemed to reach his ambition ho got killed. This is how it happened : --At about 2 o'clock in the morning of August 21 a gas shell burst right in the gun-pit, a piece catching a young man named Claude Howard inflicting a nasty wound in his leg as well as being gassed. He sang out when he was hit, and Charlie went to his assistance. Not thinking it was a gas shell, he did not bother to put his gas helmet on with the result, poor fellow, he got gassed. At the time it did not seem to affect him much as he went on firing for a couple more rounds. When the gun went out of action he went straight away and reported it to the O.C. Charlie seemed to be getting worse by this time. He then went down to the dressing station to see the doctor; a couple of us went down to the latter with him. We came back to the gun but just as he reached it he fell over, The gas had a good hold on him by this time. They lost no time in sending him away in the ambulance to the hospital. He didn't want to go, he reckoned he would be all right. He went away in good spirits and did not seem too bad, but when we heard of his death a couple of days after it came as a great shook to all of us.- We could hardly believe it; in fact; one can hardly realise it now: I believe he is buried at Albert. We are a long way from that place now, but if we ever go back there again 1 will do my best to try and find his grave and fix it up. You have the satisfaction of knowing that he died doing his duty for his King and country and he stuck to it to the last. A pity a lot more of Hobart's so-called athletes wouldn't come and take a lesson off Charlie and do their little bit instead of loafing at home." The Mercury 18th October 1916
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Born 16th Jan 1890 in Hobart, Tasmania, the
son of James William & Angela Cearns (nee Mulcahy)
Charles had grown up in Hobart and attended Queens
College there. A single man, of the Roman Catholic
faith, he worked in a Tobacconist Shop and was a member
of the 41st Battery, AFA.