Francis Thomas EACOTT

Regimental number2168
Place of birthGlenyon, Victoria
Place of birthLongwarry, Victoria
SchoolState School, Victoria
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
AddressLongwarry, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation26
Height6' 0.5"
Weight161 lbs
Next of kinFather, Joseph Charles Eacott, Longwarry, Victoria
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date15 October 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name4th Light Horse Regiment, 15th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number10/9/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A13 Katuna on 9 March 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll1st Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularHe got his Musketry Instructional Certificate at Tidsworde.
FateKilled in Action 4 January 1917
Place of death or woundingJeancourt, France
Date of death4 January 1917
Age at death27
Age at death from cemetery records27
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
28
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Joseph and Georgina EACOTT
Family/military connectionsCousin: C.A. Eacott, killed
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Taken on strength of 1st Light Horse Training Regiment, Tel el Kebir, 16 April 1916.

Embarked Alexandria, 28 May 1916.

Marched into 1st Training Bn, England, 5 September 1916.

Promoted Acting Corporal, 5 September 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 8 October 1916; marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, 9 October 1916, and reverts to the rank of Private the same day.

Proceeded to unit, 29 October 1916; taken on strength of 1st Bn, 3 November 1916.

Killed in action, 4 January 1917.

B.103 notes 'buried B1056 Sheet 8'.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, EACOTT Francis Thomas