World War I Commemorative Website

War Memorial Hall  c1929

Memorial Hall circa 1929
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Charles Reginald ‘Reg’ PERRIN

PERRIN

Reg Perrin was born on 4 November 1877 in Maryborough, Victoria. His parents were Edmund Reg and Kate Annie (née Varley) Perrin. He attended Scotch from 1890 to 1892.

Reg was a schoolteacher at Rosebud High School when he enlisted on 1 May 1916 at Melbourne, Victoria. He served in the 58th Battalion and 60th Battalion with the rank of Lance Corporal. His Regimental Number was 2747.

Reg died on 9 August 1918 at Harbonnieres, France. He was 40 years of age.

Service record

On enlistment, Reg was initially sent to the 19th Depot Battalion at Geelong. After three weeks he was transferred to Reinforcements for the 58th Battalion at Broadmeadows. He was an Acting Corporal for the voyage to England on 2 October 1916 and then became a Private on 16 November after reaching a training battalion in England. For three weeks in January 1917 he was at a Lewis Gun School, where he received a First Class qualification.

On 20 March 1917 Reg proceeded overseas to France, where six days later he joined the 58th Battalion. That same day, 26 March, he was admitted to hospital with a sprained ankle. Twelve days later he was back with the 58th, but then three weeks later he was sent to hospital with a sore throat. He was back to the unit a week later, on 2 May, but then on 7 May was hospitalised again, with trench fever. He rejoined his battalion on 20 May. A month later, on 20 June 1917 he was promoted to Lance Corporal.

His run of bad luck continued on 27 September 1917, when he received gunshot wounds to the right buttock and arm at Polygon Wood (see below for more detail). The wound to the buttock, categorised as ‘Through and through’, was the more dangerous, but fortunately struck no large nerves or muscles. These wounds were serious enough for him to be evacuated to England. By 28th November 1917 he had recovered sufficiently to go on furlough for a fortnight. Less than three weeks afterwards he was hospitalised yet again, this time for burns. He was there for another two weeks. In February 1918, still in England, Reg attended a signallers’ school at Codford.

In June 1918 he was allotted to Reinforcements for the 60th Battalion, and after sailing for France, joined that unit there on 27 June 1918. His luck ran out entirely on 9 August 1918. Reg and a fellow signaller, Lance Corporal Albert Grigg, were sitting on a railway embankment near Harbonnieres when a German shell landed some 30 yards away (see below). A shell fragment struck Reg in the forehead and killed him instantly. 

Reg Perrin is buried in the Heath Cemetery (Plot III, Row E, Grave No. 16), Harbonnieres, France.

Photographs and Documents:

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Details of the wounds to Reg’s buttock and arm in September 1917. From the Medical History in his service record.

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Albert Griggs’ testimony, from Charles’ Red Cross Wounded and Missing file

Sources:

  1. Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour and Red Cross Wounded and Missing file
  2. Mishura Scotch Database. The school’s Archivist, Paul Mishura, identified Reg Perrin as a Scotch War death in 2010. His name was added to the Memorial Hall Honour Roll in 2015.
  3. National Archives of Australia – B2455, PERRIN CHARLES REGINALD
  4. The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=238855

Page last updated: 11 November 2015