Name
Charles Maurice Berlein
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
16/06/1915
27
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lieutenant
Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
5th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
VLAMERTINGHE NEW MILITARY CEMETERY
Plot II. Row A. Grave 2
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Berkhamsted Town Memorial, St Peter’s Church Plaque, Berkhamsted
Pre War
Born at Kimberley, South Africa on 4th May 1888. Son of Julius and Elizabeth Berlein, recorded, after his death, at Cross Oak, Berkhamsted. He was educated at Charterhouse and New College, Oxford. (BA 1910). He was engaged in chemical research and was in charge of a laboratory.
Charles' father, Julius was a naturalised British citizen.
Originally from Germany, he moved from South Africa with his Irish wife
Elizabeth, to London in 1889/90, where two of their four children were to be
born. Julius had built his wealth on dealing in stone and slate, then stocks
and shares; Leslie and his brother Charles - and indeed Walter and Renee - were raised in
a wealthy and privileged environment. The family are found in 3 censuses,
including in 1911 in Berkhamsted; and immigration records show that after the
War, Julius, Elizabeth, Walter and Renee went back and forth to South Africa by
liner. One final interesting point. Renee married Allan Walden in 1921. It
cannot be a coincidence that her elder brother Charles had been a graduate in
chemistry; and that Allan Walden, a graduate from Oxford like Charles, was a
lecturer in chemistry.
Wartime Service
On the outbreak of war he received a temporary commission as a Lieutenant on 22nd August 1914. He fell in action near Hooge leading his men through heavy shrapnel fire, a few paces from the enemy trenches.
His entry in De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour reads: "Lieut., 5th (Service) Battn. Oxford and Buckingham L.I., eldest son of Julius Berlein, of Cross Oak, Berkhamsted, co. Herts, J.P.; born Kimberley, South Africa, 4 May, 1888; educ Charterhouse and New College , Oxford (B.A. 1910); was engaged in chemical research and was in charge of a laboratory, but on the outbreak of war received a commission as a temporary Lieut. in the Oxford and Buckingham L.I., 22 Aug 1914, and fell in action near Hoogh, 16 June 1915, leading his men through a heavy shrapnel fire a few paces from the enemy trenches; unmarried."
Additional Information
His younger brother, Leslie Herman, was killed only a few months later.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jo Bayley