Frank EATHER

Regimental number1304
Place of birthSydney, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationOperator
AddressGeorge Street, Windsor, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation30
Height5' 9"
Weight154 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Clara Eather, George Street, Windsor, New South Wales
Previous military serviceRifle Club
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll3 November 1914
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentCorporal
Unit name1st Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/18/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A48 Seang Bee on 11 February 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll1462
Rank from Nominal RollSergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll1st Battalion
FateKilled in Action 05-8 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
29
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Taken on strength of 1st Bn, Gallipoli, 7 May 1915, and posted to 'A' Company as a supernumerary.

Promoted Lance Sergeant, 20 June 1915.

Admitted to No 1 Field Ambulance, Sarpi Camp, Mudros, 20 October 1915, and transferred to No 3 Australian General Hospital, Mudros, the same day (diarrhoea); to Low Convalescent Depot, Mudros, 18 November 1915; to Base, 23 November 1915; to England, 25 November 1915; to London War Hospital, Epsom, 4 December 1915.

Proceeded overseas to France, 7 June 1916; marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 8 June 1916.

Proceeded to unit, 20 December 1916; rejoined 1st Bn, in the field, 23 December 1916.

Promoted Temporary Sergeant, 29 January 1917.

Posted as missing in action, 5/8 May 1917.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 28 November 1917, pronounces fate as 'Killed in Action, 5/8 May 1917'.

Noted on B.103, 'buried in vicinity of Bullecourt'.

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