RAYNER, Frederick James
| Service Numbers: | 2009, Q187638 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 January 1915, Rockhampton, Queensland |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 15 Garrison Battalion (QLD) |
| Born: | Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, 3 March 1894 |
| Home Town: | Princhester, Rockhampton, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Heart failure, Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia, 29 November 1957, aged 63 years |
| Cemetery: |
Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane, Qld Anzac Portion 9 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2009, Rockhampton, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Apr 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2009, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kyarra, Brisbane | |
| 16 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2009, 9th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: '' | |
| 26 Feb 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 49th Infantry Battalion | |
| 26 Sep 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2009, 49th Infantry Battalion, Polygon Wood, GSW (left arm) | |
| 26 May 1919: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, Australian Motor Transport Company | |
| 22 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Driver, 2009, Australian Motor Transport Company |
World War 2 Service
| 16 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, Q187638 | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Private, Q187638, Rockhampton, Queensland | |
| 17 Jul 1940: | Involvement Private, Q187638 | |
| 14 Apr 1942: | Discharged Private, Q187638, 15 Garrison Battalion (QLD) |
Help us honour Frederick James Rayner'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 Australian Remembrance Army
Private Frederick James Rayner, an Australian veteran of both World Wars who served our nation at Gallipoli during the First World War, is among nearly 800 previously unmarked WWI veterans’ graves at Lutwyche Cemetery that we have now marked with plaques honouring their service to Australia.
We unveiled his plaque in Lutwyche Cemetery on 20 September 2025, along with a further 162 plaques on the previously unmarked graves of Australian World War One veterans:
See Australian Remembrance Army Facebook page
WWI service:
2009, Private, Mechanical Transport Company
WWII service:
Q187638, Private, 15th Garrison Battalion
Frederick James Rayner was born on 3 March 1894 at Wilsons Plains, Fassifern District, Queensland, to Frederick Rayner and Eliza Rayner (née Thorne). He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 25 January 1915 at Rockhampton, Queensland, aged 20 years. At the time of enlistment, he was unmarried and employed as a labourer.
He embarked from Brisbane on 16 April 1915 aboard HMAT Kyarra with the 9th Infantry Battalion. The 9th Battalion was among the early Queensland-raised units of the AIF and served at Gallipoli before transferring to the Western Front in France and Belgium.
While serving in Egypt during April, May and June 1916, he was admitted to hospital suffering from laryngitis and bronchitis. On 26 September 1917 he was wounded in action, sustaining a gunshot wound to his left arm, and was subsequently transferred to England for treatment. On 3 December 1917 he married Maude Winifred Stedman at the Lambeth Register Office, Brixton, London.
In June 1919 he embarked for Australia aboard HMAT Windhuk, arriving two months later. He was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force on 22 October 1919.
Following his return to civilian life, Rayner and his wife Maude were living at Holland Park, Brisbane, in 1921, where he was employed as a motor driver. By 1925 they had moved to Thompson Estate, a former Brisbane suburb now within Annerley, and he was working as a motorman. Between 1930 and 1949 the family resided in the Capricornia region of Queensland, where he worked variously as a farmer and labourer.
More than twenty years after his First World War service, Rayner again volunteered for military duty. He enlisted in the Australian Military Forces on 16 July 1940 at Rockhampton, Queensland, aged 46, and was employed as a labourer at the time of enlistment. He was posted to the 15th Garrison Battalion, a Queensland unit raised in 1940 for internal security duties and later disbanded in 1944. His Second World War service was curtailed by chronic bronchitis, and he was discharged on 14 April 1942.
Private Frederick James Rayner died of heart failure at the Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, on 29 November 1957, aged 63 years. He was buried four days later in Anzac Portion 9 of Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane. His death registration recorded five surviving children — Hazel (39), Yvonne (38), Frederick (32), Desmond (27) and Gladys (21) — and noted one previously deceased son. That son, Keith, had died in Rockhampton in 1953, aged 25, as the result of a motorcycle accident.
After decades without recognition at his place of burial, his grave now bears a plaque commemorating his service to Australia — ensuring his name endures among those remembered for their duty and sacrifice. His identity and dignity have now been restored.
We have remembered him.
Lest We Forget
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