AveningHistory

Private: 28th Battalion, Australian Infantry Fate can be cruel but sometimes maybe benevolent. Such was the case with Albert Chipp. In 1911, he said fond farewells to his parents, brother and five sisters at their cottage on West End and emigrated to Perth, Western Australia. It is likely that they thought they would never meet again. Albert settled as a painter and decorator at 46 Short Street, Perth but in December 1915 he volunteered for service with the Australian army. He enlisted in January 1916 and after training, set sail for France in the troopship "Ulysses" on the 1st of April that year, joining his unit at Étaples in August. Sometime during January 1917 he experienced difficulties with his left heel and was admitted to hospital in France on the 21st and was then transferred to Guildford War Hospital in Surrey. It took several weeks for his heel to recover and here fate stepped in again, as he was granted nine days leave in March prior to repatriation to France. One can imagine the joyous family reunion that took place in Avening early in March 1917. Following his leave he was sent on to various training establishments in Southern England before leaving for France in October. He was caught up in a number of battles throughout the remainder of that year and, later, in the attempts to hold back the Germans' big push in April 1918. It was during the Allied counterattacks that followed when Albert lost his life, being killed on Monday the 10th of June. His records give a location of his burial but the search for him at the end of hostilities proved fruitless and it is likely that he is one of the unidentified soldiers buried at Villers-Bretonneux cemetery. He was just over 28 years of age, having been born at the family's West End home on Wednesday the 9th of April 1890. He was baptised in our church some six weeks later on Sunday the 1st of June. His father, William Henry Chipp was born in Essex and had married Elizabeth Yates in 1887 at Chelsea. William was a gardener and, in Avening, worked for the Calcutt family who, at that time, lived at Avening Park. Albert was educated at Avening School and from the age of 14, served a five year apprenticeship with A E Drysdale, a company of plumbers in Nailsworth. He was unmarried. The awards of the Victory Medal and the British War Medal which, together with his Memorial Scroll, Memorial Plaque and "Where the Australians Rest" pamphlet, were received by his father in November 1922. We have found no relatives in the village but we have been able to familiarise his brother's granddaughter in Norfolk with the details of her family's hero. Albert is remembered, with honour, on our church War Memorial and on War Memorials in Perth.

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