Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the great honours I had when I was first elected in 2007 was to meet a number of the Rats of Tobruk, who were veterans of the Tobruk campaign and who were residing in my electorate. One such man was Charlie Mortimer. It is with a great deal of sadness that I inform the House that Charlie passed away on 23 May this year. I am indebted to his wife, Kath Mortimer, for letting me know and also for providing me with a bit of information about Charlie's service during World War II.

Charlie was an irrepressible character—a really outspoken member of the Elizabeth RSL. His service I think does tell you something about the man. He served in the 50th (Northumbrian) Division. In 1939 he was in England, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. In 1940 was taken off the beach at Dunkirk. In 1941 he was in Egypt and Cyprus. In 1943 he served with the Eighth Army in Libya, Tobruk, Tunisia, Syria, the Caucasus, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Italy and then back to England. In 1944 he was in France at Normandy. It tells you a lot about Charlie and the men who served with him just the vast distances they covered and the service they saw and the bravery they exhibited. We will never see a generation like them again I don't think—to live in such dramatic times and to meet those dramatic times is a wonderful thing and an impressive thing.

In 1945 he was demobilised and Charlie like the Australians he met so much that in 1950 he immigrated to Australia. Charlie was, as I said before, one of those irrepressible characters, a really outspoken member of the community. He would always tell you what was on his mind but he would do it in such a friendly and decent way that you couldn't help but love him. He moved from Elizabeth to Red Hill—Red Hill is a small town in the mid-north of South Australia. He was 95 at the time. I said to Charlie, 'Charlie, do you think it is wise to move so far away from good medical facilities?' He said, 'Why would I need a hospital, Nick?' It says everything about the man—he was an indestructible character. It is with a great deal of sadness that I inform the House that he passed away in the care and company of his wife. He was a great man and we will never see the likes of him again.