The AIF Project

Frank DANN

Regimental number126
Place of birthBexley, Kent, England
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationSelector
AddressPeeramon via Cairns, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation28
Height5' 10"
Weight159 lbs
Next of kinFather, Henry Dann, Gravesend, Kent, England
Previous military serviceLondon Rifle Brigade (1 year); Commwealth Forces (1.5 months)
Enlistment date17 September 1914
Place of enlistmentTownsville, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name15th Battalion, A Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/32/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board Transport A40 Ceramic on 22 December 1914
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll15th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 9 August 1916
Age at death from cemetery records30
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
75
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Town. Peeramon, Queensland
Family/military connectionsBrother: 127 2nd Lt Thomas DANN, 15th Bn, returned to Australia, 11 April 1916.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 12 April 1915.

Wounded in action, 2/3 May 1915 (gunshot wound, left side of chest); embarked on HS 'Gascon', no date stated; admitted to No 15 General Hospital, Alexandria, 7 May 1915; transferred to England, 16 May 1915; to No 2 Western General Hospital, Manchester, 28 May 1915; to No 1 Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, 30 August 1915; discharged to furlough, 6 September 1915.

Transferred from Monte Video to Perham Downs, 28 June 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 16 July 1916; marched into 4th Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 18 July 1916.

Proceeded to unit, 26 July 1916; rejoined 15th Bn, in the field, 27 July 1916.

Killed in action, 9 August 1916.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DANN Frank

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