Charles Edward Doodson

The eldest of the three Doodson brothers who served, Charles Doodson was a member of the volunteer New Guinea Expeditionary Force in Rabaul serving in the Naval Reserve for 8 years before enlisting in the AIF to join the fight in Europe on January 6th of 1916.

Born in 1882, Curly played his football with Pyrmont in Sydney’s docks area and while in New Guinea contracted malaria, an affliction from which he suffered recurring bouts for the rest of his life, somewhat limiting his football experience. Doodson, who was working with the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship co., was assigned to the 7th Field Artillery unit and embarked along with 136 other members of the 7th for the front in mid-May of 1916. He served as a gunner with the 3rd Trench Mortar Battery.

The brigade undertook training on Salisbury Plain before landing in Le Havre on New Year’s Eve. A bout of Malaria hospitalised Curly for a week just before departure. On May 15th near Boulogne in France, Charles Edward Doodson, the eldest of the five Doodson boys, received gunshot wounds to his face, arm, shoulder, hands and thigh and was transported to the field hospital in Boulogne. He died from those wounds five days later and was buried in the eastern section of the Boulogne cemetery.

Curly left behind his wife Marion who died almost two years to the day after him. The couple had no children