The AIF Project

Fredrick BENNETTS

Regimental number1455
Place of birthSandhurst, near Bendigo, Victoria
ReligionProtestant
OccupationBlacksmith
Address32 McClure Street, Bendigo, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation27
Height5' 8.5"
Weight165 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Eliza Bennetts, 32 McClure Street, Bendigo, Victoria
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date3 December 1914
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll13 December 1914
Place of enlistmentBendigo, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name8th Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/25/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A46 Clan Macgillivray on 2 February 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll513
Rank from Nominal RollSapper
Unit from Nominal Roll2nd Field Company Engineers
FateDied of wounds 24 August 1918
Place of death or woundingFrance
Age at death from cemetery records31
Place of burialDaours Communal Cemetery Extension (Plot VI, Row C, Grave No. 24), France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
23
Family/military connectionsBrother: 3707 Pte William BENNETTS, 5th Bn, killed in action, 27 October 1917.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Proceeded to join Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 5 April 1915; transferred to 2nd Field Company Engineers, Gallipoli, 6 August 1915; allotted regimental number 513, 6 August 1915; admitted to 3rd Field Ambulance, Gallipoli, 22 August 1915 (influenza); transferred to Casualty Clearing Station, 22 August 1915; discharged to duty, 22 August 1915; admitted to 1st Stationary Hospital, Lemnos Island, 16 September 1915 (paratyphoid); to England, admitted to 5th Southern General Hospital, Porstmouth, 26 September 1915.

Admitted to Fulham Military Hospital, England, 4 June 1916; discharged to Salisbury Plain, 12 June 1916.

[On 8 September 1916 his mother wrote a letter to the Staff Officer for Invalided Soldiers, Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, asking that Fredrick be allowed to return home from England, as he had been away for almost two years, and as a widow, with her other son serving in France, has no income; the officer commanding Base Records replied on 19 September 1916 stating that the decision lay with the Army Medical Authorities abroad; no other correspondence is evident].

Detached for duty with Headquarters AIF Depots, England, 11 September 1916.

Found guilty, 3 November 1916, of (1) drunkenness; (2) neglect of duty: awarded 48 hours detention.

Admitted to Park House Hospital, 2 December 1916 (mumps); discharged, 13 December 1916.

Detached from duty and marched out to No 1 Command Depot, Sutton Veny, 16 November 1917; marched into No 1 Command Depot, 16 November 1917; marched out to England Training Department, Brightlingsea, 7 December 1917.

Proceeded overseas to France, 8 January 1918; marched into 1st Australian Division Base Depot, Rouelles, 9 January 1918; marched out to 1st Division, 13 January 1918; taken on strength, 2nd Field COmpany Engineers, 16 January 1918.

Found guilty, 14 March 1918, of conduct to the prejudice of good order in that he on 13 March 1918 became unfit for duty by reason of previous undulgence of alcoholic stimulants: forfeited a total of 7 days' pay.

Wounded in action, France, 23 August 1918; admitted to 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, 23 August 1918 (gun shot wound, abdomen); transferred to 61st Casualty Clearing Station, 23 August 1918; died of wounds, 24 August 1918.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, BENNETTS Fredrick

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