Benjamin Thomas Cartledge (SN 59) was just 18, a turner and fitter from Otway Street Ballarat, when he enlisted on March 20th 1916. He trained in Ballarat with the 14th Depot Battalion then the 39th Battalion. On May 27th he embarked for Europe on the Ascanius, reaching England on July 18th 1916. In late October he transferred to the 7th Battalion and shortly afterwards moved across to France. After little more than a month he was evacuated to England suffering from Trench Fever. His extended time back in England was marked by a couple of disciplinary issues. On July 21st 1917 while at Windmill Hill, he was charged with ‘conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline in that he used offensive language when spoken to by an NCO’ for which he was confined to barracks for four days. Two weeks later on August 9th he was again charged, this time for ‘neglecting to obey an order given by an NCO’. In April 1918 he rejoined the 7th Battalion in France. On August 25th 1918 he was wounded, gassed. After the war he left England on the Port Darwin, disembarking in Melbourne on July 27th 1919. He died in January 1929 at the age of 29.