S25441
FORD, Francis Charles
| Service Number: | 411 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 August 1914, at Morphettville |
| Last Rank: | Company Quartermaster Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | London, England, 13 September 1883 |
| Home Town: | Broken Hill, Broken Hill Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Traveller |
| Died: | 1 March 1969, aged 85 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 411, 10th Infantry Battalion, at Morphettville | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Sergeant, 411, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Sergeant, 411, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Company Quartermaster Sergeant, 411, 10th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Francis Charles Ford was born in 1883 in England making him a natural born British subject. Before the war Francis worked as a traveling salesman or ‘Traveler’; at this time being a traveler was a popular occupation. He moved to Broken Hill before travelling to Adelaide where he would sign up to fight in WW1. He was married before he went to war to Louisa Ann Ford. Francis was 5’7” and weighed 146 lbs. or 66kg. Francis Charles Ford joined the war in August 1914 as a volunteer at the rank of Sergeant. Francis Charles Ford lived most of his life before the war in London, England.
Francis embarked from Adelaide on the H.M.A.T. Ascanius on 20-10-1914. The H.M.A.T Ascanius was a steam powered passenger boat before being converted into a troop transporting vessel in 1914 for the war. The boat was returned to its original owner Alfred and Holt Co in 1920. This boat transported the 10th battalion from mostly South Australia and the 11th battalion who were mostly from Fremantle. After its conversion to troop transport the boat could carry 1820 soldiers and 12 horses. During its life it transported troops from Australia 9 times. After the war the boat transported refrigerated meat between Australia and Liverpool. Later in WW2 this vessel was again used for troop transport. During WW2 it was torpedoed on 30th of July 1944 by U-621 which was a German submarine. It did not sink though as it was able to get to a port to make repairs.
Ford landed on Gallipoli with the 10th battalion on the first day. A few days later he was promoted to Company Quartermaster Sergeant. In September 1915 he was reprimanded for poor performance of duties and shortly after reverted to Sergeant at his own request. After the evacuation he remained in Egypt through most of 1916, only heading to France in September (and thus well after the rest of the 10th Battalion). For the next year he was attached the HQ of Anzac Corps, serving mostly at the Corps School. However, on 21 October 1917 he returned to the 10th Battalion, missing out on the worst of its fighting at Ypres. He lasted there only a few days, returning to England with a debility of unknown origin before embarking for return to Australia on 20 December 1917.
He was discharged from the AIF with neurasthenia on 28 March 1918. Details of his later life are unknown, save that he was still alive in 1967 and living at Wattle Park.
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