METCALFE, Francis Bramall
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 October 1916, Enoggera, Qld. |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | Medical Officers |
| Born: | Norfolk Island , 29 August 1891 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Norfolk Island Primary, Kings School Parramatta, Sydney University, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Doctor |
| Died: | Died of wounds, United Kingdom, 6 October 1917, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
Brookwood Military Cemetery, Pirbright, Surrey, England, United Kingdom XI C 9 |
| Memorials: | Norfolk Island Cenotaph, Norfolk Island RSL Roll of Honour, Norfolk Island Roll of Honour, Norfolk Island Sub Branch Commemoration Garden & Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Oct 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Captain, Officer, Medical Officers, Enoggera, Qld. | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jan 1917: | Involvement Captain, Medical Officers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ayrshire embarkation_ship_number: A33 public_note: '' | |
| 24 Jan 1917: | Embarked Captain, Medical Officers, HMAT Ayrshire, Sydney |
Help us honour Francis Bramall Metcalfe's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Peter Herbert METCALFE and Janet Amy Lucy nee NOBBS, of 43, Pine St., Randwick, Sydney.
Francis was sent on short leave to England during the Divisions rest period and hurt his knee on the boat, which deveolped such serious symptons that the doctors found it necessary to amputate the leg. He was admitted to No.3 London General Hospital, Surrey on 18.9.1917 and was diagnosed with Synovitis of the left knee. He was declared dangerously ill on 25.9.1917 and he died on 6.10.1917 - of septicaemia and shock following amputation of the leg. He was 26 years of age.
The arrangements for his funeral were all carried out so well, as they always are, officers and privates treated alike - no vulgar parade through the streets. The body was brought in from Wandsworth by motor ambulance to the th mortuary station and we met there at 11 o'clock for Brookwood. The coffin was covered by a Union jack, and some lovely flowers. It was a lovely day, and Brookwood is a beautiful spot. We wended our way to a plot reserved for Australians, the firing-party band playing Chopin's funeral march, three officers each side as pall bearers, then Mrs. Fagge (his cousin) and me, then General Sir Neville Howse and Major Lewens, Chief M.O. at Horseferry Road. Archdeacon Richards of Tasmania read the service. I wrote and told then I was not sending any flowers, and to my amazement, when I saw the coffin there was a spray of heath tied with white ribbon, which I recognised as the pot plant I had given him before his operation. I thanked the sister for putting it there, but she told me it was his dying wish. - Lindon Brown
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