Frederick Arthur CADDY

Regimental number158
Place of birthBallarat, Victoria
ReligionMethodist
OccupationClerk
Address87 Yarra Street, Abbotsford, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21
Height5' 8"
Weight142 lbs
Next of kinMrs M.J. Williams, 87 Yarra Street, Abbotsford, Victoria
Previous military serviceServed for 2 years 9 months in the 6th Australian Infantry Regiment, Citizen Military Forces.
Enlistment date18 August 1914
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name6th Battalion, B Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/23/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on 19 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollSergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll58th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularEnlisted 18 August 1914 - 6th Bn; taken on strength 58th Bn 17 February 1916; promoted Sgt 4 March 1917.
FateKilled in Action 12 May 1917
Place of death or woundingBullecourt, France
Age at death24
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
155
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 5 April 1915.

Admitted to No 4 Field Ambulance, Dardanelles, 28 May 1915; transferred to Fleet Sweeper, no date stated; to Cottonere Military Hospital, Malta, 4 June 1915 (septic right arm).

Employed in Munitions Factory, Malta, no date stated, until fit for service.

Employed as Clerk, Malta, 13 September 1915.

Promoted Corporal, 1 November 1915.

Embarked for Mudros, 15 November 1915.

Admitted to Mustapha Convalescent Depot, Alexandria, 4 December 1915 (venereal disease, syphilis); transferred to No 17 General Hospital, Alexandria, 10 December 1915; discharged, 12 January 1916, and rejoined 6th Bn, Tel el Kebir, the same day.

Transferred to, and taken on strength of 58th Bn, Serapeum, 17 February 1916.

Found guilty, 10 March 1916, of being absent without leave from 2200 hours, 7 March 1916, until 0930 hours, 8 March 1916: award, severely reprimanded, and forfeits one day's pay by Royal Warrant.

Detached for duty with 15th Training Bn, Ferry Post, 12 May 1916.

Promoted Acting Company Quartermaster Sergeant (without pay), 15th Training Bn, 16 May 1916.

Embarked Alexandria, 13 June 1916; disembarked Plymouth, England, 23 June 1916.

Reverts to the rank of Corporal at own request, Larkhill, 10 August 1916.

Reverts to the rank of Private at own request, 6 September 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 10 September 1916; marched into 5th Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 11 September 1916.

Proceeded to unit, 28 September 1916; rejoined 58th Bn, in the field, 30 September 1916.

Promoted Corporal, 30 September 1916.

Admitted to No 5 Australian Field Ambulance, 11 December 1916, and transferred to Corps Rest Station the same day (trench feet); discharged, 19 December 1916; rejoined unit, 23 December 1916.

Promoted Sergeant, 4 March 1917.

Killed in action, 12 May 1917.

Buried Noreuil, near Bapaume.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, CADDY Frederick Arthur