COCKERILL, Francis Douglas
| Service Number: | 3285 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | New Norfolk, Tasmania, 20 September 1889 |
| Home Town: | Neutral Bay, North Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Home Schooled |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 13 August 1916, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rue-David Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix Plot 1,Row E,GraveNo.30, Rue-David Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, Bethune, Nord Pas de Calais, France, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, New Norfolk War Memorial |
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
His brother 1523 Gnr. Charles Cahill Cockerill 22nd Brigade Field Artillery was killed in action the day before 12 August 1916.
He was educated by his mother, with only a few months at State School.
In a letter to Base Records late 1916, their mother Mary stated “I have lost my only two, but if I had two more, I would willingly give them, as I did those.”
In 1920 in she wrote, in answer to queries about the father,
“I had charge of a state school in Tasmania but when the sons were in danger I could no longer teach, when the notice of the deaths reached us, I was hardly conscious for some months, and my daughter kindly took care of me and as I am still feeble and weak and she still looks after my affairs, though I am living in Victoria.
My husband is some years younger than I and does not keep me, in fact I always worked at my profession to educate the children, and had it not been for the war, my sons would have kept me in the greatest comfort, instead of which I am in dire necessity. All appeal to say ‘You have a right to a pension and you ought to have a gratuity to get you a home’
But I do not get either.” Yours faithfully M.B. Cockerill, August 1920.
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