An interesting life of command

[spidge]

Enlisting at 16 Pre War..............................

from: http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-...green-3rar.htm

Lt. Col. Charles Hercules Green, DSO, Silver Star (US)

26/12/1919 – 1/11/1950 Commanding Officer of 3 RAR, Korea, till his death 1/11/1950 this wording (not the photos) is a direct copy of a page at http://www.kmike.com/oz/greenbio.htm

"From farmer to legend"

L to R. Lt Col Charles "Charlie" Green, Cpl Lindsay Beeck, Lt Alf Argent

Lt Col Charles Green has the distinction of being the first to command a unit of the newly-formed Regular Army in its first war, The Korean War.

Charles Green died of wounds on 1st November, 1950, sustained in the Battle of Chongju 29 October, 1950. Though Green was only 30 when he died, he had been a commanding officer of three infantry battalions in three branches of the Australian Army.

	His first was in 1945, in the AIF, as CO of the 2/11 Battalion of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force, AIF. [The second AIF was modelled on the first AIF, the volunteer citizen expeditionary force raised for the first World War and the creator of the Anzac legend] A CO at 25, he was the youngest in command of a battalion in action in WW2 . For his leadership of 2/11 Bn in the Aitape-Wewak Campaign, New Guinea, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
DSO		US Silver Star

Green had enlisted in the AIF, as a lieutenant, on the first day of recruitment for World War 2, which explains his prestigiously low AIF number of 121. Though Green had served for the whole 6 years of the war, he returned to civilian life for only a brief period. From 1945 to the end of 1948 he worked as a clerk in a farm produce firm in Grafton, NSW, close to the farm at Swan Creek where he had grown up, where he had enjoyed farming and his horses.

Distinguished Service Order - C.O. 2/11 Bn. AIF, Aitape-Wewak, P.N.G.,1945 1939-1945 Star : 6 months service in an operational command area Africa Star : on posted strength, between 1940 and 1943, in area between Suez and Straits of Gibraltar Pacific Star: operational service in territories that have been invaded by the enemy not including Burma Defence Medal : at least 6 months service in specified areas 1939-1945 War Medal : at least 28 days full time service - operational or non operational 1939-1945 Australia Service Medal: at least 30 days full time service or 90 days part time service 1939-1945 Active Service Medal: for operational service Korea, Malaya or Vietnam etc. Korea Medal: at least one day's service on posted strength of operational unit in period 1/7/50 to 27/7/53 United Nations Medal - Korea clasp: any period on posted strength of unit on operational service Korea in period 27/6/50 - 26/7/54 P.N.G clasp. 30 days service. Clasp denotes area of service Efficient Service ("E.D."): Officers - 20 years commissioned service in Citizen Forces or 12 years continuous efficient commissioned service etc. Recipients are entitled to add letters "E.D." after name. Silver Star , U.S. for "gallantry in action" in Korea on 22/10/1950 at Battle of "Apple Orchard" - The Silver Star is the third highest US military award designated solely for heroism in combat. This was not posthumous as has been mistakenly reported Greek Medal: Greek Government Medal for operational service in Greek Campaign 1940-1941