CADDY, Frank Bayliss
| Service Number: | 1668 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 December 1914, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Norwood, South Australia , 31 December 1891 |
| Home Town: | Mount Barker, Adelaide Hills, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Peter's College, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Bank Officer |
| Died: | Died of Wounds, age 23, Malta, 20 August 1915, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Pieta Military Cemetery Pieta Military Cemetery Malta Plot A, Row IX, Grave 6 , Pieta Military Cemetery, Tal-Pieta, Malta (island), Malta |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board, Kent Town Wesleyan Methodist Church WW1 Honour Roll, Melbourne Bank of Australasia Roll of Honour WW1, Mount Barker Soldiers' Memorial Hospital Roll of Honor, Mount Barker War Memorial, Norwood Primary School Honour Board, Prospect South Australian Soldiers at Gallipoli Memorial, St Peters Heroes War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1668, 7th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Feb 1915: |
Embarked
AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1668, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' |
|
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1668, 7th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 6 Aug 1915: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1668, 7th Infantry Battalion, The August Offensive - Lone Pine, Suvla Bay, Sari Bair, The Nek and Hill 60 - Gallipoli, Died of Wounds Malta 20 August 1915 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Hayden Massey
Frank Bayliss Caddy was born at Norwood, Adelaide 31 Dec 1891 and gained his early education at Pulteney Street School.
When writing about her Great Uncle Frank in 2001, Jolyon Gemmell mentioned what great promise he had shown as a student while at the Pulteney Street School and this was ‘exemplified by the fact he attended Saints under a scholarship, a rare thing in those days.
He had come from Pulteney Street School where an arrangement had been made with the headmaster to pay three shillings per month or nine shillings per term, whereas other boys paid twenty shillings, or one pound per term.’ [i]
He certainly proved worthy of the scholarship and during his time at the School gained Honours in Algebra, Chemistry and Geometry. Frank was an enthusiastic and popular member of the Debating Society and demonstrated all of the skills necessary for a promising future.
After leaving the School, he gained employment as a clerk in the Mount Barker branch of the Bank of Australasia where he demonstrated innate leadership skills by initiating the formation of the Mount Barker Young Men’s Club, which brought young men together for debating and sporting competitions. Frank was well known and highly regarded in his home town of Mt Barker and as an enthusiastic and gifted footballer had a strong reputation for being one of the best and fairest players throughout the surrounding Adelaide Hills district.
When transferred to Melbourne with the bank, many people in the Adelaide sporting fraternity were hoping he would soon return and his positive attitude and selfless contributions to community life within Mount Barker and the surrounding towns were missed by all whose lives he touched.
Frank enlisted in Melbourne on 22 December and joined the 3rd quota of reinforcements for the 7th Battalion, which had been raised by Lieutenant Colonel “Pompey” Elliott at Broadmeadows Camp, Victoria in August 1914.
The 7th Battalion landed as part of the second wave on 25 April 1915 and 10 days later moved to Cape Helles to assist in the attack on the village of Krithia. The attack achieved little and after sustaining heavy casualties there, the brigade returned to the Anzac sector and until the second thrust in August continued to defend the beachhead.
Private Caddy recorded his experiences at Helles in his diary and described his time there as a ‘big eye-opener’ and how he had a narrow escape one night while engaged in burying the dead.
Up until the time the battalion was moved to Helles Frank had been a signaller in the Battalion HQ Signals Section but transferred, probably for promotion, to A Company at Helles and was appointed Lance Corporal.
On 9 August, 23 year old Lance Corporal Caddy sustained severe wounds to his face, chest, hands and legs when a bomb exploded next to him during the fighting at Lone Pine. Following initial treatment at 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station he was evacuated to the Hospital Ship Itonius and transported to Malta where he was admitted to Auberge de Baviere (Hospital), Valletta; he died of wounds on 20 August 1915.
The wording ‘wounded at Suvla Bay’ on his headstone in Pieta Military Cemetery is misleading since his service record shows he was definitely wounded at Lone Pine 8/9 August 1915. [ii]
Frank’s two brothers and five sisters were proud of their brother’s achievements during his short life before the war and the terrible news of his death deeply affected them for the rest of their lives. According to Frank’s great niece, Jolyon, ‘two of his sisters were engaged to be married to young men who went to the war but did not return and they remained spinsters for the rest of their lives.’ [iii]
Corporal Caddy, 7th Battalion AIF, was mentioned in Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Routine Orders on 31 August 1915. [iv]
During the Battle of Lone Pine, one of the bloodiest diversions of the campaign, of the seven Victoria Crosses awarded to men who fought there, four of the recipients were members of the 7th Battalion.
[i] Gemmell, J A, (nee Caddy), Finding Great Uncle Frank Bayliss Caddy, unpublished 2001, p. 2
[ii] Australian War Memorial, Photograph -P00545.031 – Viewed 26 September 2005
[iii] Gemmell, J A, (nee Caddy), Finding Great Uncle Frank Bayliss Caddy, unpublished 2001, p. 2
[iv] Australian War Memorial, Honours and Award (Recommendations)-File: 2/47P1 - 1st Australian Division – 1915 - Citation: AWM 28 2/47P1, p. 30 – Caddy - Viewed 24 September 2005
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