Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hercules Green DSO was the youngest Australian Army infantry battalion commander during World War II. Green served in the Middle East and the Battle of Greece with the 22nd Battalion. He went on to command the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment during the Korean War, where he died of wounds. He was posthumously awarded the US Silver Star for his bravery in the Korean war.
About Charles Green (Australian soldier) in brief
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hercules Green DSO was the youngest Australian Army infantry battalion commander during World War II. He went on to command the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment during the Korean War, where he died of wounds. He remains the only commanding officer of a battalion of the Royal Australian regiment to die on active service. Green was a popular and respected commanding officer, whose loss was keenly felt by his men. He is considered one of the Australian Army’s better unit-level commanders, and his career remains an inspiration to serving Australian soldiers. He was posthumously awarded the US Silver Star for his bravery in the Korean war. Green served in the Middle East and the Battle of Greece with the 22nd Battalion. He also commanded the 211th Battalion in New Guinea during the Aitape-Wewak campaign. He died of his wounds on the following day, aged 30, and was subsequently posthumous awarded the U.S. Silver Star. Green is the second of three children of his parents, Australian-born Hercules John Green and Bertha née DeVille. He attended school at Swan Creek Public School and Grafton High School. In 1933, Green began working for his father on the family dairy farm. On 28 October 1936, at the age of 16, he enlisted in the 41st Battalion, a part-time infantry unit of the Militia. In 1938 Green was promoted to sergeant and was commissioned as a lieutenant on 20 March 1939, aged 19. He volunteered for overseas service and was posted to the Second Australian Imperial Force, which was being raised for that purpose.
In October 1939 he enlisted to the 22th Battalion, which formed part of the 16th Brigade that was assigned to the 6th Division. In February 1940, Green was deployed to the MiddleEast in February 1940. Green initially served as one of 22nd’s platoon, but accidentally missed out on taking part in first combat action during the North African campaign between December 1940 and January 1941. On March 12, 1940, he arrived in Greece to repel the German invasion, and on March 13, he was promoted as captain. The 22nd was deployed into the north of the region to face the German assault, which began on 6 April. Green and the rest of the 22rd Battalion saw action at Pineios Gorge on 18 April, but the German forces were quickly overwhelmed by the larger Commonwealth forces. Green returned to Australia in August 1942 via Ceylon, to fight the Japanese. In July 1943, he rejoined the22nd Battalion as its second-in-command. In March 1945, Green took over command of the 211st Battalion which he commanded for several months during the New Guinea campaign. In June 1950, Army Headquarters selected him to command 3 RAR. Green led the battalion to Korea in late September, and he was wounded in the stomach by a shell fragment the day after the latter battle, 30 October, when he was resting in his tent in a reserve position.
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