CAVERS, Francis
| Service Number: | 1745 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 January 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Rulewater, Roxburghshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, 27 April 1894 |
| Home Town: | Dalby, Western Downs, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Hobkirk Protestant School, Scotland |
| Occupation: | Stockman |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 5 April 1918, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension Plot X, Row F, Grave No. 19. UNTIL THE DAY BREAKS AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1745, 9th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Apr 1915: | Involvement Private, 1745, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of England embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Apr 1915: | Embarked Private, 1745, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of England, Brisbane | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Involvement Corporal, 1745, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1745 awm_unit: 49th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1918-04-05 |
Help us honour Francis Cavers's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was 24 and the son of William McLean Cavers and Margaret Robson Jepps Cavers; husband of Elizabeth Creighton Cavers, of 1, Drumlaurig Square, Hawick, Scotland.
He is remembered on the Hawick Municipal Roll of Honour at Wilton Lodge Public Park, Hawick, Scotland.[UKNIWM Ref: 44298 ]
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Francis Cavers was a Scotsman who came out to Queensland during 1909 and was working as a stockman at Dalby, Queensland when he enlisted in early 1915.
He was a gardener before he emigrated to Australia. He joined the 9th Battalion AIF and served at Gallipoli from May 1915 before being invalided out to England with dysentery on 11 August 1915.
His brother died at this time, 16297 Private John Cavers, King's Own Scottish Borderers, drowned at sea 13 August 1915 when the troop transport "Royal Edward" was torpedoed by a German submarine, the U-14 and became the first troopship to be sunk in the First World War. John was in a draft of 100 men sent from Scotland as reinforcements from Gallipoli.
Francis recovered in time to serve at the Battle of the Somme where he was wounded at Pozieres in August 1916. He transferred to the 49th Battalion and was promoted to Corporal before again being wounded in the face and thigh during January 1917 and evacuated to England.
Whilst recovering there he married Elizabeth Creighton Hesketh during June 1917 and made her his next of kin. He returned to the Western Front in late 1917 and was killed in action at Dernancourt on 5 April 1918, during a very gallant counter attack made by the 49th Battalion against a German breakthrough.
He died aged just 24, leaving a widow Elizabeth and young daughter Mary. His parents were William McLean Cavers and Margaret Robson Jepps Cavers of Hawick, Scotland.
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