General News
22 April, 2026
Hero's escape: Charlton connection needs to be remembered
“These soldiers gave their today so we can continue to live ours,” Mr Freeman said ahead of Saturday’s Anzac service.
IT’S Bill Freeman’s mission to have the story of how his father Private George Ross Freeman (5th and 57th Battalion) and many others made it home from Anzac Cove.
It’s one of the many reasons he has given so much of his life to the Charlton RSL and the preservation of war history.
“These soldiers gave their today so we can continue to live ours,” Mr Freeman said ahead of Saturday’s Anzac service.
“Their legacy needs to live on.”
Thankfully, Private Freeman kept a journal, giving us insight into his movements throughout the First World War and beyond.
From a young age, he made a number of attempts to enlist, but to no avail.
Having completed his education at the Bendigo High School he passed the Public Service Examination and was subsequently employed at the Clerk of Petty Sessions office in Prahran.
He wrote in his journal: “When war was declared in August 1914 I immediately presented myself as a volunteer at the Prahran Drill Hall and was there informed that the minimum age was 19.
“I being at that time barely more than 17 I was not eligible so had to curb my impatience.
“Shortly afterwards the age was reduced to 18 and I tried again, stating that I was over that age. This time I was rejected on account of chest measurement being too small.” After moving to Bendigo, he volunteered for service on April 22, 1914.
Private Freeman’s journey through the Battalion ranks lead him to land at Anzac on November 16, 1915 before moving to the front line the next day.
In his journal, he wrote that he was suffering from dysentery when they were relieved and evacuated from Anzac on December 18, which St Arnaud’s Cyril Brudenell White had a hand in. He writes of spending days in “uncertainty” before they were free to move to their next mission.
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