Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Private Claude Victor Cecil Chandler (2151)

Claude Victor Cecil Chandler was born in Ramsgate, a seaside town in the district of Thanet in East Kent, England so he was a natural born British subject. Prior to his enlistment, he served as a Draftsman, also known as a Draughtsman, which is a person who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for machinery, buildings, electronics and infrastructure. Claude didn’t have any previous experience in the army. He was 26 when he enlisted to join World War One.

He was an above-average height male, standing at 176.53cm (5 feet 9½ inches), with brown eyes and dark hair, weighing 56.7kg (125 lbs.) prior his service in the military. His chest measurement was 82.14cm, and his religious denomination was Christian. He got married to Anna Cassebohm, who later became known as Anna Chandler, and they got married in 1914 and had a child together. They lived in a house on 108 Osmond Terrace, Norwood, South Australia.

He enlisted in Adelaide, Australia on the 12th of April 1917 and was put in the army as a private (a soldier of the lowest military rank), and joined a general reinforcement unit. He was at ‘B’ Coy Mitcham for one day on the 16th of April 1917 before moving off to C. Company. After staying at C. Company from the 16th of April 1917 to the 28th of August 1917, he went to the Machine Guns Reinforcements, on the 29th of August 1917 before heading off once again to Machine Gun Depot, Bendigo on the 6th of September to the 26th of November 1917. At Seymour on the 25th of October 1917, he was admonished for ‘conduct to prejudice in that he did write to the lieutenant commander’.  

He left for battles on the 26th of November 1917 on the ship "Indarra". They headed to Melbourne on the ship. He was then on another ship, the H.M.T "Kashgar" on the 9th of January 1918. He was moved to another unit called ‘Codford’ on the 14th of February 1918 before getting moved once again to ‘Grantham’ on the 23rd of April 1918. On the 11th of June 1918, he was taken to France via Folkestone from Grantham and the next day, he made it to Camiers, France. From there, he returned to Australia per Port Melbourne on the 5th of September 1919, and won two medals: a British War Medal, awarded to officers and men of British and imperial forces for service in WW1, and a Victory medal, awarded because they won the war. Later, he was discharged on the 10th of September 1919 and died in 1942 at the age of 51.

ANZAC stands for ‘The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’. Qualities that give someone the ANZAC spirit are endurance, courage, ingenuity, humour and mateship. To many people, the ANZAC spirit means being ‘born of egalitarianism and mutual support’. The ANZAC spirit also means not having unneeded boundaries, having a mocking sense of humour, being contemptuous of danger and proving that they were equal to everyone else. Mr Chandler possessed ANZAC spirit, and this was demonstrated through multiple scenarios throughout his lifetime. He was courageous for enlisting for war, and he showed endurance when he remained loyal to his country – at the time, many soldiers bore the brunt of war directly on their soldiers, and either went mad or abandoned their Battalion. He had ANZAC spirit, just like every other soldier he battled with.

[1] http://naa.gov.au and https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/index.html
[2] https://www.awm.gov.au/contact