KIRKLEY - SUFFOLK
Parish Church Memorial
Parish Church Memorial
Kirkley is a district within the town of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk.
Sergeant Claude Charles CASTLETON 1352 V.C.
Born: Kirkley, Lowestoft, Suffolk Enlisted: 11-3-1915, Liverpool, New South Wales Occupation prior to Enlistment: Prospector 5th Australian Machine Gun Company Departed Australia from Sydney, N.S.W. 25-6-1915 Killed in Action, France 29-7-1916 aged 23years Son of Thomas Charles & Edith Lucy Castleton, 18 Wilson Rd., Lowestoft, England Resting: Pozieres British Cemetery Ovillers-La Boisselle, Pozieres, Picardie, France Honoured Australian War Memorial Panel 177 |
Awarded Victoria Cross for conspicuous gallantry and bravery on the night of the 28-7-1916 N.E. of Pozieres when the Infantry made an attack on the German Trench. During the attack on the enemy trench the Infantry were temporarily driven back owing to intense machine gun fire. Many wounded were left lying in shell holes in No Man's Land.
While No Man's Land was still under intense Machine Gun and shrapnel fire, Sgt. Castleton went out and twice brought in wounded men on his back - a third time he went out and was bringing in his third wounded man when he was hit in the back and killed instantly.
While No Man's Land was still under intense Machine Gun and shrapnel fire, Sgt. Castleton went out and twice brought in wounded men on his back - a third time he went out and was bringing in his third wounded man when he was hit in the back and killed instantly.