BENSON, Frederick
| Service Number: | 4236 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 January 1916, Place of enlistment - Kalgoorlie, Western Australia |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company) |
| Born: | Coburg, Melbourne Victoria, 1876 |
| Home Town: | Kalgoorlie, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Plate Layer (Railroads) |
| Died: | Died of wounds from multiple shell wounds, 73rd Fields Ambulance, near Lens, France, 4 February 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Philosophe British Cemetery, Mazingarbe Plot I, Row L. Grave 39 : Philosophe lies between Bethune and Lens. The cemetery was started in August 1915. In 1916 it was taken over by the 16th (Irish) Division, who held the Loos Salient at the time, and many of their dead were brought back to the cemetery from the front line. Succeeding divisions used the cemetery until October 1918, and men of the same Division, and often the same battalion, were buried side by side. After the Armistice, this cemetery was one of those used for the concentration of isolated graves from the Loos battlefield. The bodies of 41 men of the 9th Black Watch were brought from positions a little West of Loos, and those of 340 officers and men of other Regiments from different points in the communes of Cambrin, Auchy, Vermelles, Halluch and Loos. There are now 1,996 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery, 277 of them unidentified. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker., Philosophe British Cemetery, Mazingarbe, Lens, Nord Pas de Calais, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 31 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4236, Place of enlistment - Kalgoorlie, Western Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company) | |
| 2 May 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Corporal, 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company) | |
| 24 May 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company) | |
| 1 Jun 1916: | Embarked Corporal, 4236, 3rd Tunnelling Company (inc. 6th Tunnelling Company), from Fremantle, WA on HMAT 'A69' Warilda , embarkation roll number '6' | |
| 4 Feb 1917: | Involvement Corporal, 4236, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4236 awm_unit: 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-02-04 |
Help us honour Frederick Benson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Les Diggers de la Côte 70
In the footsteps of.... Frederick Benson
For this ANZAC day, I would like to tell you a short story,
Frederick Benson was born in 1876, in Coburg, he married with Nellie Walker in 1898, and had four children. They led a peaceful life, but that's without counting, without the First World War which broke out in 1914.
Frederick completed an "application to enlist in the Imperial Australian Force", and underwent a medical examination, at Kalgoorlie on January 31, 1916. The examination concluded that he was "fit for active service" and recorded that He was 36 years and 6 months of age, he was 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 172 pounds. He had a reddish complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was of the Presbyterian faith. Frederick signed the "Foreign Service Enlistment Document" and the Oath to "Serve Well" at Blackboy Hill, near Perth, Western Australia, on February 14, 1916
On March 10, 1916, Sapper Benson was assigned to the 6th Tunnel Company under regimental number 4236.
He trained long and hard with his brothers in arms, until June.
He arrived on August 29 in France, and trained at Etaples.
Several times a week, the company spent the whole day at Training Camp No.1, known locally as the "Bull-ring", where excellent instruction was received in bomb throwing, hand-to-hand combat. bayonet, gas helmets, machine gun work, etc. all being of a thorough nature and following the very latest advice from the Front.
Frederick was taken on the strength of the 3rd Australian Tunneling Company (3ATC) on September 30, 1916.
On February 1, it joined the mining system of tunnels on Hill 70, in Loos. And so on 2/3/17 Corporal F. Benson Spr Thompson, L. was killed in action, the former by M.G. bullet and the latter by a billet shell at Loos. F. Benson, did not die instantly, he was transported to the 73rd Fields Ambulance and died of his wounds on February 4, 1917.
He is buried in Philosophe Military Cemetery in Mazingarbe.
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
Frederick married Nellie Walker in 1898 at Northam, Western Australia. The couple had four children. Pearl Olive was born in 1900 at Northam; Ruby Thelma in 1902 at Brown Hill; Jean I. born 1911 at Northam; Catherine born 1905 at Picton, sadly died at one day; and Jack (John L.) born in 1914 at Claremont.
Son of Henry and Isabella Benson
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