Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Private number 6018 Frederick Ernest Honey
 
The Somme, more than a hundred years ago, young men, a whole generation of young boys who listened only to their hearts and their courage, came to fight together, side by side on the soils of France and did their duty with a exceptional bravery.They were young and proud and shed their blood on the poppy fields under which they now rest in peace under the rows of their graves in the peaceful and silent cemeteries and whose names live forever through the light of the sun and in the eternal flame of Remembrance. Today, it is with deep gratitude and with all my heart that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men who gave his life, his today for our tomorrow , I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 6018 Frederick Ernest Honey who fought in the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion and who was killed in action 104 years ago, on January 4, 1917 at the age of 23 on the Somme front.

Frederick Ernest Honey was born on July 8, 1893 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, and was the son of Frederick George and Nellie Honey, of 10 Fergie Street, Fitzroy North, Victoria. Frederick was educated at Yarra Park State School, Melbourne, Victoria. Before the outbreak of the war he was single and lived at 122 Wells Street, Redfern, Sydney, New South Wales, where he worked as a carpenter.
Enlisted at Bathurst, New South Wales, on March 6, 1916 in the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion, 19th Reinforcement, he embarked with his unit from Sydney, on board HMAT A18 Wiltshire on August 22, 1916 and sailed for England and was disembarked at Plymouth on October 12, 1916 then he joined the 1st Training battalion with which he received an intensive two-month training. On December 13, 1916, he joined the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion and embarked from Folkestone on board SS Arundle and sailed for France where he was disembarked the next day, on December 14 at Etaples and was sent to the Somme front on December 20 in the Gueudecourt sector.

Unfortunately, two weeks later, on January 3, 1917, after having fought with courage, Frederick met his fate and was killed in action in the area of Gueudecourt, Somme, he was 23 years old.

Today, Frederick Ernest Honey rests in peace with his comrades, friends and brothers in arms at Bulls Road Cemetery, Flers, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "In memory of the dearly loved son of MR.and Mrs. Honey ".

Frederick, Sir, you who gave your life on these lands of France which are today yours, I would like to thank you with all my heart and with a deep love for who you were and a very great respect for what you and your comrades, your brothers in arms have done for us who are lucky enough to live in a world at peace, for this peace for which you fought and for which you gave so much.you who with exceptional bravery and the strength of your youth fought day and night in a world at war through hell on earth, in muddy trenches, in biting cold, in icy water mixed with blood of your comrades who gave their lives in a nameless nightmare that were the battlefields of the great war which were consumed day after day by the flames and by the steel of the shells which devoured and changed every day landscapes of apocalypses under their dismal and sinister growls that rained down death and destruction.with courage and determination they held their heads high and moved forward with perseverance and bravery, all together, united in bonds of camaraderie, of unity under rains of bullets and lead which tirelessly, without distinction of rank, mowed down a whole generation of heroes who shed their blood on the poppies.brave among the bravest, they never retreated and moved forward, rifles and bayonets forward and their eyes turned to their fates, they did not march towards their death but they marched for the peace in which they had so much hopes and moved forward, through desolate lands, avoiding the shell holes in which so many men and horses drowned, through the barbed wire that bruised a land forever scarified by the violence of war, through the shells and poison gas, they went through the worst horrors but despite everything,they never lost their courage nor their determination nor their faith in humanity which the war tried to destroy in unimaginable bloodsheds and gave all they had, not only in the hell of battles but they did everything what they could for the French people who admired all these men, all these young Australians who always had a smile and who were so attentive and very quickly, a very strong friendship was born between our two countries, a friendship of which we are very proud and very honored more than a hundred years later and just like my ancestors, I feel a deep admiration and a great respect for all these young men who rest today in peace in the cemeteries of the Somme,I feel for them a very strong bond, for all these heroes, I would never stop giving the best of myself so that they are never forgotten and to honor them with the love and respect they deserve, I would be always their benevolent guardian, for them and their families, I would always give my heart and my energy, my whole devotion and I would always carry high and proud, between the rows of their graves, the flame of remembrance but also the Australian and French flags, two countries united in friendship and in the love of the Remembrance of our soldiers who fought and fell together who will always be, in my heart, more than men, they are my heroes, my boys of the Somme.Thank you Frederick, for all you have done for us,you will never be forgotten.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.