My maternal
great uncle Charles Joseph Ardern (1878-1920) aka Charles Harding was a Private
in the 1st Battalion Auckland Infantry Regiment, Army number 15897.
He was
stationed on the Western Front from 1916. His division moved to Flanders in
February 1917, and he later took part in the capture of the Messines Ridge,
Belgium.
The Battle of
Messines was launched on 7 June 1917 with the detonation of 19 underground mines
underneath the German lines.
There was
stillness and silence for an hour preceding the attack …t hen the ground rocked
and the air was filled with the sounds of the deafening explosion — the loudest
man-made explosion to that point, as the sky lit up with towering pillars of
fire.
The village of
Messines was captured successfully by the New Zealanders, but they later
suffered heavily from German bombardment, with more than 700 killed.
During the
operation, Charles was in the frontline and was struck by a German 77mm field
gun known as a whizz bang. He would have heard the terrifying whizz noise of a
travelling shell before the bang of the gun itself, and had virtually no
warning as the shell fired travelled faster than the speed of sound. He suffered
serious wounds in several places.
With his
shrapnel-shattered arm and leg, he was stretchered to the field hospital, and
transferred eventually to General Hospital, Walton on Thames. He was discharged
as no longer fit for war service due to wounds received in action, and returned
to New Zealand on the H.S. Marama in August 1917.
Back in New
Zealand, he struggled to adjust, and took some time to rehabilitate. On March 3
1920, while working at a Public Works camp near Paeroa, Charles drowned in the
Waihou River. Although the inquest found no evidence to show how he got into
the water, it was thought that his war wounds may have contributed to his
death.
~ Annie Christie
Photo: Advanced dressing station in German Second Lines during the Battle of Messines, Belgium, by Henry Armytage Sanders
reference 1/2 - 012773-G, Royal NZ RSA official negs WW1
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