The AIF Project

Frederick HORSFALL

Regimental number177
Place of birthGravesend, Kent, England
SchoolPitman's College, London, England
Age on arrival in Australia23
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationSailor
AddressNiagara, Kenthall Street, Kensington, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation23
Height5' 5"
Weight147 lbs
Next of kinMrs L M Horsfall, 197 Kings Hall Road, Birkenham, Kent, England
Previous military serviceIn British Military Force, Royal West, Kent.
Enlistment date19 August 1914
Place of enlistmentSydney, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name2nd Battalion, B Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/19/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A23 Suffolk on 18 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollCorporal
Unit from Nominal Roll2nd Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour Circular"Travelled with his Father on board his ship in all parts of the world from infancy to 7 years. Resided then in Nova Scotia and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada where he became an expert sailor and Colomist. On death of his Father he came to England with his Mother. Joined Royal Wist, Kent regiment. Left to make a home for his Mother in Australia in 1914. War breaking out he joined the 1st Division Australian Imperial Force." Details from Mother.
FateKilled in Action 23 July 1916
Place of death or woundingPozieres, Somme Sector, France
Age at death25
Age at death from cemetery records25
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
33
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Frederick and Louisa HORSFALL, Barricane House, Mortehoe, Devon, England
Family/military connectionsNot related to any other Australians in the Army but a distant relation, through his great grand father, T.B. Horsfall, of Liverpool of the Horsfalls, Melbourne, Australia.
Other details

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

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