Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Life before the war

Herman Frank Frost was a soldier that fought in WWI who was born in Kent Town, South Australia in approximately January 1894. He grew up in Payneham and went to Wellington Road Public School. He was faithful to the Church of England, along with his family. The next of kin known of Herman Frank Frost is his mother, Mrs A Frost. He also had a brother, Frederick Martin Frost, who also served in WWI. Before his service, he had not had any previous military experience and had no criminal record. He was unmarried and had no children. His appearance was ordinary for the time; 5 foot 8 inches, hazel eyes and dark hair. Not much is known about Herman Frank Frost’s life before the war.

Life in service

Herman Frank Frost enlisted on the 16th of August 1915. He was 21 years old. He was placed in the 10th Battalion and his regimental number was 5989. He began his training in Adelaide with the 10th Battalion and disembarked from Plymouth on the HMAT Ballarat A70 to England.

Herman Frank Frost arrived in England and was transported to Etaples in France, joining from the reinforcements on 16th November 1916. Very early on into his service in France, he was sent to hospital in Amiens with influenza. He was then transported to a hospital in Etretat and joined his Battalion back in Etaples. Only a couple of months after re-joining from hospital in December of 1916, Herman Frank Frost was sent to hospital again for a condition called trench foot. He was transported to a hospital in Boulogne in England, where he was kept for over 5 months. He proceeded overseas to France after his second time in hospital and rejoined the 10th Battalion on 25th September 1917. On 2nd October 1917 he was wounded in the left hand. He was sent to hospital once again in England, where he attempted to recover, but was deemed medically unfit. He was discharged on the 30th of May 1918, having the final rank of private. He spent over half his service in hospitals around the world.

With Herman Frank Frost being in hospital for the majority of his service, he did not get many opportunities to fight in battle. He was constantly travelling back and forth between places in France and England to go to hospital, which meant that he had to keep moving back to join his battalion in battle. Even though he did engage in much combat during his service, it is impressive how long he persisted. He only fought for a short amount of time with the 10th Battalion in France and Belgium.

Life after the war

Herman Frank Frost returned to Australia on the 30th of May 1918, after a total of 2 years and 303 days of service. He was 21 when he enlisted is 1915, so he would have been 24 by the time he disembarked. After his service, he married to Maud Alma Frost. Other than this, not much is known about his life after the war, such as when he died or where he died. Most soldiers after the war were affected both physically and mentally. Many suffered from PTSD and had sustained injuries. Soldiers often wanted to put the war behind them and continue with their regular civilian lives.