FALCONER, Frank Bailey
| Service Number: | 1025 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 January 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 23rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | St.Kilda Victoria Australia, 1892 |
| Home Town: | St Kilda, Port Phillip, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Engineer |
| Died: | Cheltenham Victoria Australia, 9 April 1976, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Cheltenham Memorial Park, Victoria, Australia Cheltenham Memorial Cemetery Plot: 16*12*N |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1025, 23rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 1025, 23rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked Private, 1025, 23rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne | |
| 24 Nov 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 23rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 8 Mar 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 23rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 28 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, 1025, 23rd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , GSW left hand; treated in France and England (Hampstead Mil Hosp). |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Andrew Brown
Frank Bailey Falconer was born around 1892 to John James Falconer & Alice Heath 'Barnes' Falconer in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, and grew up to work as an engineer. Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 5 January 1915 in Melbourne at the age of 22 years.
Assigned to A Company of the 23rd Battalion, 6th Brigade, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT A14 'Euripides' on 10 May 1915. After training in Egypt, he joined his unit at Gallipoli on 4 September 1915, serving in the defensive lines—most notably the hazardous Lone Pine sector—until the evacuation in December 1915.
His battalion then moved to the Western Front, where he endured the brutal conditions of France and Belgium.
Falconer proved a reliable soldier, earning steady promotions. He was wounded three times by gunshot—mildly to the left hand on 28 August 1916 during the fighting at Pozières and Mouquet Farm on the Somme, mildly to the head on 3 May 1917 near Bullecourt or in the Ypres sector, and severely to the left leg on 30 August 1918 during the successful assault on Mont St Quentin in the final Hundred Days Offensive. Each wound required hospitalization in France and England; Despite these injuries, he rejoined his unit each time until the severe 1918 wound led to his final evacuation.
He returned to Australia on 3 March 1919 and was formally discharged as medically unfit on 6 July 1919 in Victoria's 3rd Military District, after approximately four and a half years of service.
For his wartime contributions he was entitled to the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal.
In May 1967, he personally applied for the Anzac Medallion commemorating Gallipoli service, signing as Sergeant 1025, 23rd Battalion, AIF, and the application was acknowledged and processed.
In civilian life after the war, Falconer resided in various parts of Victoria, including Lake Meran near Kerang and later Monbulk. He had married during his service, with his wife Mary noted as next of kin by 1918 (his mother Alice had been listed initially). He lived into his eighties and died on 7 April 1976, He was buried at Cheltenham Memorial Park Cemetery in Victoria.
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