WOODHAM, Frederick Martin
| Service Number: | 13861 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 9th Field Ambulance |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA, May 1891 |
| Home Town: | Paddington, Woollahra, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Metermaker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 30 August 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension Row B, Grave No. 18, |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Townsville 9th Field Ambulance Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 13861, 9th Field Ambulance | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 13861, Army Medical Corps (AIF), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Kanowna embarkation_ship_number: A61 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 13861, Army Medical Corps (AIF), HMAT Kanowna, Sydney | |
| 29 Aug 1918: | Involvement Private, 13861, 9th Field Ambulance, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 13861 awm_unit: 9th Australian Field Ambulance awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-08-29 |
Remembering Fred Woodham across generations
Frederick Woodham, together with other men including Charles Haddon Carter, was sent from Parkhouse Camp on Sailsbury Plain to France in early October 1917 as reinforcements to the 9th Australian Field Ambulance following heavy casualties sustained during the Passchendaele campaign in September October 2017.
Frederick Woodham remained with the 9th Field Ambulance until his death on 29th August 1918. He served at Villers Bretonneux during the defense of this town in early April 2018. He was killed as the Australian 3rd Division forces advanced along the Somme River valley.
In 1952 Charles Carter was taking up old floor coverings in a house at Lindfield and found among the newspapers lying beneath the linoleum, a copy of the Sydney Morning Herald from 29 August 1931. In the In Memorium 'On Active Service' section of the paper he saw an entry inserted by Frederick Woodham's sister Nellie. Charles Carter retained the copy of the paper and, with photographs from the 1917-19 period in France and the UK, the document remains in the possession of Charles Carter's descendants.
Subsequent investigation has revealed that for many of the years on 29 August, from 1919 though to 1931, an In Memorium notice was inserted in the Sydney Morning Herald for Frederick Martin Woodham by his family.
Submitted 10 September 2019 by Mark Carter
Biography contributed by Mark Carter
FREDERICK MARTIN WOODHAM “Snowy”
KIA 29.8.1918 Curlu, France
Aged 26 years 8 months
No. 13861 9th Australian Field Ambulance
Frederick married Leila Jane Extence on 23.3.1916. A daughter Eunice was born on 27.10.1916. The birth notice said ‘premature’. Fred would not live to see his daughter.
Fred joined up on 5.12.1915 aged 24 years. He embarked from Melbourne on the “Kanowna” on 1.4.1916, arriving in England in June 1916. He was assigned to the 1st Australian Aux. Hospital Harefield as Special Reinforcements and then transferred to the 16th Field Ambulance at Wareham in late March 1917.
He sailed for France via Southampton from the Australian Army Medical Corp Training Depot at Parkhouse, Wiltshire, with Charles Haddon Carter on 8.10.1917. Private Carter and Private Woodham were ‘Taken on Strength’ on 23 and 28 October 1917 respectively for the 9th Australian Field Ambulance.
Members of his family, parents (James & Mary), sisters (Lillian, Nellie & Alice Primrose) and brothers (Jim & Harry), inserted yearly memorial tributes each August in the Sydney Morning Herald 'In Memoriam' Notices, for 14 years from 1918 up to & including 1931.
His wife’s last tribute in the SMH was in 1921. Presumably she remarried as on 28.2.1923 she signed her name as Leila J Holland when accepting Frederick’s Victory Medal. NSW State Archives and Records hold Divorce Papers for Leila Holland and Alfred William Holland circa September 1924.
Frederick’s ‘pals’ Dick (Wilfred) Gates & Billy (William) Pearson also wrote tributes in the SMH.
Wilfred Gates was carrying a stretcher with Fred Woodham when Woodham was killed. Gates was wounded by the same shell explsion although his personnel record refers to GSWs to back and leg. Gates was awarded the MM for action on 27 April 1918.
William Pearson was also a member of the 9th Field Ambulance.
A newspaper cutting (see photo) from the SMH Sat. 29.8.1931 was found by Charles Haddon Carter & his son Russell under the linoleum in the 2nd bedroom of 14 Bent St Lindfield in 1953. This chance discovery, after 34 years must have evoked many memories for Charles and the conversation was remembered by his son. Russell retained this newspaper and it remains with the family's collection of photographs and documents related to Charles Carter's service in the 1st AIF.
Tribute inserted in Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 29 August 1919
WOODHAM. - In loving memory of my dear husband & my daddy,
Pte. Frederick Martin Woodham, 9th Field Ambulance, killed in
action at Curlu, August 29, 1918.
One year has passed since that sad day
When one I loved was called away:
God took him home, it was His will,
But in my heart he liveth still.
Inserted by his loving wife & baby, Leila & Eunice Woodham.
SMH Monday 29 August 1921
WOODHAM. - In loving memory of my dear
husband & my daddy, Pte. Frederick M. Woodham,
stretcher-bearer 9th Field Ambulance, killed in
action at Curlu, France August 29, 1918.
He did not shun his country’s call,
He gave his life, his all
He went Australia to defend
A true soldier’s noble end.
Inserted by his loving wife & little daughter, Leila &
Eunice Woodham.
WOODHAM. - In loving remembrance of our
beloved son & brother, Private Frederick Martin
Woodham, stretcher-bearer, killed in action,
August 29, 1918
Not dead to us we love him still,
Not lost, but gone before:
He lives with us in memory still,
And will for evermore.
Inserted by his loving parents, sisters & neice,
Alice, Mr. & Mrs J. Woodham, 3 Cambridge Street,
Paddington.
WOODHAM, - In loving memory of our dear
brother, Frederick Martin, stretcher-bearer, killed in
action, Aug. 29 1918. Inserted by his loving sister
& brother-in-law, Lillian & Arthur Pierce.
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