SWANN, Frank Murray
| Service Number: | 740 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 August 1914, Enlisted at Sydney, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Benalla, Victoria, Australia, 21 May 1894 |
| Home Town: | Wodonga, Wodonga, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Wodonga State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Fitter, Engine Cleaner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Turkey, 2 May 1915, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Panel 15, Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing, Wodonga St. Stephen's Church Great War Honour Roll, Wodonga War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 740, Enlisted at Sydney, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 740, 1st Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 740, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Sydney |
Help us honour Frank Murray Swann's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Henry K. Swann and Clara Maria Swann nee Trevaskes of 'Murray' 52 Queen Street, Bendigo, Victoria formerly of Wodonga, Victoria
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Frank Murray SWANN (Service Number 740) was born on 21st May 1894 at Benalla, Victoria. He was employed by the NSW Railways as a temporary cleaner, the first step on the career path to locomotive driver, from 1st May 1911. He became a permanent employee on 21st September 1913 at Junee Locomotive Depot. He joined the A.I. Expeditionary Forces on 17th August 1914 within a few days of the outbreak of the war. He enlisted at Sydney. As his next of kin he gave his father H K Swann, Depot Foreman, Victorian Railways, Ararat, Victoria. He also claimed military experience with the 43rd Infantry Brigade.
He was allotted to the 1st Battalion. Swann embarked HMAT ‘Afric’ at Sydney on 18th October 1914. He would have arrived in Egypt in November and spent the next months training there. He embarked at Alexandria in early April for the Gallipoli landings on 25th April 1915.
He was reported missing on 2nd May, a week after the landing. A report by Maguire suggests that he died on 25th April. The National Roll of Honour cites 2nd May.
The only information as to the circumstances of his death came from a report to his father by one of his comrades at the Gallipoli landing:
‘One of his mates, who was living in Junee, Maguire is the name, informed me that my son landed alright and he turned round to Maguire on landing with the words “Come on Curly, we are over the worst of it.” He then got ahead of Maguire about 200 yards when the Turks who were on top of the rise shot the whole lot of them that was so far ahead. This is the only information that I have received.’
It was not until 11th January 1916, when a Court of Enquiry convened at Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt, that it was determined that Swann had been killed in action about the time that he was noted as missing.
Swann has no known grave and is remembered at the Lone Pine Memorial, above Anzac Cove.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.