Charles Pope VC (1883 - 1917)

Born 5 Mar 1883 in London, England

Husband of Edith Mary (Smith) Woods — married 13 Dec 1906 (to 15 Apr 1917) in St Luke's Anglican Church, Chelsea

Died 15 Apr 1917 at age 34 in Louverval, France

Problems/Questions Profile manager: John Andrewartha [send private message]

• Visit : VWMA Virtual Memorial Charles Pope VC . . . and photo . .
  

Visit: Moeuvres Communal Cemetery

• Honour Avenue Kings Park :
  Lieutenant Charles Pope VC
  Visit : Honour Avenue Profiles VC Holders

Biography

Charles Pope ^[1] (1883-1917), soldier, policeman and insurance agent, was born on 5 March 1883 at Mile End, London, son of William Pope, a constable in the Metropolitan Police, and his wife Jane, née Clark. He was educated at Navestock, Essex, and after migrating to Canada was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railways. In 1906 he returned to London, joined the Metropolitan Police Force, Chelsea division, and on 13 December, at St Luke's Anglican Church, Chelsea, married Edith Mary Smith; they had a son and a daughter.
Pope resigned from the police in 1910 and migrated to Australia where he was employed as a furniture salesman with Blain & Co., Beaufort Street, Perth. He then worked on the staff of the Temperance & General Insurance Co., Perth. Before leaving England he had married, and his wife Edith Mary and their son and daughter had accompanied him to Australia. . . . more . . adb.anu.edu

FOR VALOUR

Studio portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) Charles Pope VC, ^[2] 11th Battalion, of Perth WA, formerly of London, England who was killed in action on 15 April 1917 at Louverval, France.
Lt Pope was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for 'most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when in command of a very important picquet post in the sector held by his battalion, his orders being to hold this post at all costs'. Lt Pope's post had been heavily attacked and he was short of ammunition, while waiting for more ammunition the enemy attacked again and Lt Pope charged with his picquet and was killed.

Sources

1. ↑ John Burridge, Pope, Charles (1883–1917), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,
   published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 31 January 2019.
2. ↑ AWM - Photo and Description

• Charles Pope England, Essex Parish Registers, 1538-1997 Christening
• "Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954,"
  • 16 March 2018), Charles Pope, 1906; citing M1464, Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924, 34, NARA microfilm publications M1461, M1463, M1464, and M1465 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, publication year); database with images, FamilySearch FHL microfilm 1,561,120. . . (and possibly with elder brother William.)

• The Charles Pope, VC ward at the former Repatriation General Hospital, Hollywood is named in his honour.
• Western Australia’s 17 Victoria Cross recipients . . Pope . . p.13-14/44 .

• A brother, Private John Pope of 51 Battalion, was killed in action at Villers-Bretonneux on 25 April 1918.
• Victoria Cross recipients - Australia (Links)
• CWGC Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension Military Cemetery : photos and history
• Visit: The Sir John Monash Centre tells Australia’s story of the Western Front in the words of those who served