LITTLE WALTHAM - ESSEX
Church of St Martin
Second Lieutenant Colin E. CHALMERS
Born: St. Georges, Hobart Tasmania Enlisted: 1-9-1915, Holdsworthy, New South Wales 52nd Battalion Australian Infantry Killed in Action: 7-6-1917, France aged 35years Resting: Derry House Military Cemetery No. 2 Son of Edmund Alleyne & Rosalie Chalmers, Bellerive, Tasmania |
Photo: Tasmanian Weekly Courier 26-7-1917
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Photo & Text: Michael Day
Possibly: Second Lieutenant Colin Edmund Alleyne Chalmers, 52nd Bn., Australian Infantry, A.I.F.; died 7 June 1917, aged 35; buried in Derry House Cemetery No. 2, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (I. B. 22.); son of Edmund Alleyne Chalmers and Rosalie Chalmers, of Bellerive, Tasmania; native of Hobart, Tasmania; [2nd Lieutenant Chalmers was born in Hobart, the son of Edmund Alleyne Chalmers and Rosalie Chalmers (nee Walker), where they lived at Bellerive; it is difficult to find a direct link with Little Waltham, although an Arabella Alleyne (d. 1762) did marry the Rev. James Chalmers, Rector of Little Waltham (and the Alleynes of Hatfield Peverel and Little Leighs did historically own property in Little Waltham); 2nd Lieutenant Chalmers's service records are available from the National Archives of Australia; they reveal that: he enlisted at Holdsworthy, NSW on 1 September 1915; that he was 33 years old and had been born at St Georges, Hobart; that he was an accountant; that he left Australia on the A70 Ballarat from Melbourne on the 18th February 1916; that he was initially in the 15th Reinforcements for the 12th Battalion, but was transferred to the 52nd Battalion on the 21 April 1916; that he was quickly promoted, Lance Corporal on 19 April 1916 and Corporal on 28 September 1916, then Gazetted 2nd Lieutenant on 28 March 1917; that he served briefly in Egypt (Serapaeum) before sailing to France (Alexandria-Marseille) in June; after a short time attached to the 27th Australian ASC, Chalmers re-joined the 52nd, before being transferred in November 1916 to the UK (Balliol College, Oxford) for officer training; that after being Gazetted 2nd Lieutenant, Chalmers proceeded overseas in April 1917, being taken on the strength of the 52nd Battalion again on the 20th April 1917; he was killed in action little over a month later, on 7th June 1917, his body being found on the 23rd July 1917, when the 11th Royal Warwickshire Regiment took over some trenches; his body was buried in Gun Farm Cemetery No. 2, 4 miles SE of Wytschaete, ¾ miles N of Messines; there is other correspondence in the file about the return of 2nd Lieutenant Chalmers's effects (a missing watch) and his grave.
Possibly: Second Lieutenant Colin Edmund Alleyne Chalmers, 52nd Bn., Australian Infantry, A.I.F.; died 7 June 1917, aged 35; buried in Derry House Cemetery No. 2, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (I. B. 22.); son of Edmund Alleyne Chalmers and Rosalie Chalmers, of Bellerive, Tasmania; native of Hobart, Tasmania; [2nd Lieutenant Chalmers was born in Hobart, the son of Edmund Alleyne Chalmers and Rosalie Chalmers (nee Walker), where they lived at Bellerive; it is difficult to find a direct link with Little Waltham, although an Arabella Alleyne (d. 1762) did marry the Rev. James Chalmers, Rector of Little Waltham (and the Alleynes of Hatfield Peverel and Little Leighs did historically own property in Little Waltham); 2nd Lieutenant Chalmers's service records are available from the National Archives of Australia; they reveal that: he enlisted at Holdsworthy, NSW on 1 September 1915; that he was 33 years old and had been born at St Georges, Hobart; that he was an accountant; that he left Australia on the A70 Ballarat from Melbourne on the 18th February 1916; that he was initially in the 15th Reinforcements for the 12th Battalion, but was transferred to the 52nd Battalion on the 21 April 1916; that he was quickly promoted, Lance Corporal on 19 April 1916 and Corporal on 28 September 1916, then Gazetted 2nd Lieutenant on 28 March 1917; that he served briefly in Egypt (Serapaeum) before sailing to France (Alexandria-Marseille) in June; after a short time attached to the 27th Australian ASC, Chalmers re-joined the 52nd, before being transferred in November 1916 to the UK (Balliol College, Oxford) for officer training; that after being Gazetted 2nd Lieutenant, Chalmers proceeded overseas in April 1917, being taken on the strength of the 52nd Battalion again on the 20th April 1917; he was killed in action little over a month later, on 7th June 1917, his body being found on the 23rd July 1917, when the 11th Royal Warwickshire Regiment took over some trenches; his body was buried in Gun Farm Cemetery No. 2, 4 miles SE of Wytschaete, ¾ miles N of Messines; there is other correspondence in the file about the return of 2nd Lieutenant Chalmers's effects (a missing watch) and his grave.