DUDLEY, Frederick James
| Service Number: | 3776 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 September 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | South Yarra, Victoria, Australia, 9 October 1884 |
| Home Town: | Westonia, Westonia, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Richmond State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 20 September 1917, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 17) |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3776, 11th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 3776, 11th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: RMS Mongolia embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 22 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 3776, 11th Infantry Battalion, RMS Mongolia, Fremantle |
Pte Frederick James Dudley
By Moya Sharp and Graeme Monaghan
3776 Private (Pte) Frederick James Dudley, 11th Battalion, of Westonia, WA. A miner before enlisting in September 1915, Pte Dudley left Australia for Egypt with the 12th Reinforcements in November 1915. In March 1916 he transferred to the 1st Pioneer Battalion before arriving in France for service on the Western Front the following month. Rejoining the 11th Battalion in June 1917, Pte Dudley was killed during the 1st Division’s attack on Glencorse Wood (Battle of Menin Rd), Belgium, on 20 September 1917, aged 32. He has no known grave.
Submitted 2 April 2019 by Evan Evans
Biography contributed by Geoff Tilley
Frederick James Dudley was born at South Yarra Melbourne Victoria in 1885 to parents Lionel Joseph and Mary Dudley. Frederick was one of four siblings. He went to Richmond State School, Melbourne.
It was around the mid 1890’s that Frederick with his family travelled to Western Australia ending up in the goldfields at Bardoc, a now mining ghost town between Kalgoorlie and Menzies. It was in 1896 that his father died and was buried at Bardoc.
Frederick enlisted into the AIF in September 1915 at the time of enlistment he was a miner at Westonia west of Kalgoorlie. He conducted his training at Blackboy Hill Perth before he embarked overseas in November 1915 attached to 11th Infantry Battalion. Disembarking in Egypt where in March 1916 he was transferred to the 1stPioneer Battalion.
It was in late March that he embarked for the Western Front arriving in France in April 1916, where in the June of 1917 he was transferred back to 11th Battalion.
In early September 1917, Frederick with his battalion was sent from the Somme region to Hazebrouck in the northern sector of France near the Belgium border. This was in preparation for an offensive operation, of the Third Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Menin Road.
It was on the 20th September 1917 the opening day of the battle that Frederick’s battalion was sent forward in the attack of Menin Road. The advancing Australians had to overcome entrenched German defensive positions which included concrete pill-box strong points near Glencorse Wood.
It was on this date that Frederick was recorded as killed in action, he has no known grave with his name recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial Ypres, Flanders Belgium.
The Australians sustained over 5,000 casualties in the Battle for Menin Road between the 20th – 25thSeptember 1917.
Private Frederick James Dudley, Service number 3776 of 11th Battalion was killed in action on the 20thSeptember 1917. He was 32 years of age.
He is remembered with honour.
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