The AIF Project

Frederick Clarence EARP

Regimental number3752
Place of birthPenrith, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationShop assistant
AddressHigh Street, Penrith, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation22
Height5' 5"
Weight130 lbs
Next of kinFather, J. Earp, High Street, Penrith, New South Wales
Previous military serviceSenior Cadets (left to enlist)
Enlistment date4 August 1915
Place of enlistmentHoldsworthy, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name3rd Battalion, 12th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/20/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A7 Medic on 30 December 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll3rd Battalion
FateKilled in Action 5 May 1917
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
36
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Admitted to No 3 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Cairo, 25 February 1916 (observation); discharged to duty, 6 March 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 29 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 4 April 1916.

Marched out of 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 24 May 1916; taken on strength of 3rd Bn, 25 May 1916, and reverts to the rank of Private the same day.

Wounded in action, 22/27 July 1916; admitted to No 3 Casualty Clearing Station, 25 July 1916 (gunshot wound, left arm); transferred to No 11 General Hospital, Camiers, 27 July 1916; to England, 2 August 1916; to No 3 Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, 2 August 1916; discharged to Tidworth, 18 October 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 13 December 1916; marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 14 December 1916.

Promoted to Acting Sergeant with Extra Duty Pay of Corporal, 2 March 1917.

Proceeded to unit, 31 March 1917, and reverts to the rank of Private the same day; rejoined 3rd Bn, 1 April 1917.

Posted as missing in action, 5 May 1917.

Now, 20 May 1917, reported as 'Killed in Action, 5 May 1917'.

Buried in vicinity of Maricourt Wood.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, EARP Frederick Clarence

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