Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Frank Stumer #5683 26th Battalion

Frank Stumer was born at Bunburra near Boonah to William and Wilhelmine Stumer. He attended the local school before leaving to work as a farm labourer. The farm work was obviously hard and dangerous as his army medical lists six significant scars on his arms, hands and legs.

Frank enlisted in Brisbane on 5th May 1916. He was 23 years old and of above average height and weight. His parents were deceased and he named his eldest sister, Annie Pokarier of Wyaralong, as his next of kin. Frank spent some time in a depot battalion at Enoggera before being allocated as a reinforcement for the 26th Battalion, part of the 7th Brigade of the 2nd Division AIF.
Frank boarded the “Clan McGillivray” in Brisbane on 7th September and arrived in Plymouth on 2nd November. Six weeks later he had finally been taken on by the 26th as a reinforcement in France. The 2nd Division had endured a significant number of casualties during the latter half of 1916 and the reinforcements were sorely required to bring the battalions up to strength.

The winter of 1916/17 saw a significant change in the disposition of forces on the western front. Unbeknown to the British and French, the Germans had been secretly constructing a heavily fortified line some distance to the east of their positions held along the Somme. With the coming of spring, the German forces began a disciplined withdrawal back to these fortifications, which the British named the Hindenburg Line.

The men of the 7th Brigade had the task of following the German withdrawal, and meeting occasional firefights as the enemy turned to defend a well prepared position. On 2nd March. Frank was shot in the knee as his battalion attempted to take Malt Trench in the vicinity of Bapaume. The wound was described in telegrams to his sister as severe. Frank was evacuated via Field Ambulance to a casualty clearing station and then on to a Canadian Hospital at Rouen before being transported to the Northampton War Hospital.

Frank remained at Northampton for almost six months before being discharged to furlough which ended on 10th September. After a month at the Overseas Training Brigade at Perham Downs, Frank rejoined the 26th in Belgium. By the time that Frank rejoined the ranks, the Passchendaele campaign had ground to a halt in the Flanders mud. The 7th Brigade would spend the winter in Flanders rotating in and out of the line around Messines.

On 1st April, just a week after the German Spring Offensive began, Frank was caught in a “light gas shell bombardment” at Warneton. The gas in question was almost certainly mustard gas. Frank trod the familiar route via field ambulance and casualty clearing stations to a hospital in Boulogne where he remained until July.

Frank Stumer rejoined his battalion on 12th July 1918, just as preparations were under way for a massive counter attack against the German armies on the Somme. The Battle of Amiens, which took place on 8th August 1918, is considered to be a masterpiece of strategic planning by Lieutenant General John Monash. Armour, aircraft, artillery, deception and massed infantry were coordinated to produce the single greatest advance on the western front up until that time. Monash was convinced that employing tactics in a coordinated way would reduce the casualties of the infantry, but naturally casualties still occurred.

Frank Stumer received an abdominal wound from a shell splinter as the 26th advanced out of the mist at Corbie on the 8th August. He was transported to the 8th Field Ambulance where he died later that day. Frank was buried at White Chateau with the Rev. Holliday in attendance. In the early 1920’s, small pockets of isolated graves were consolidated by the Imperial War Graves Commission. Frank’s remains were reinterred in the Adelaide Military Cemetery.

The disposal of Frank’s service medals caused the authorities some concern. Frank had named his sister Annie as his next of kin but she was not automatically entitled to the medals. The protocol for dispersal of medals was laid down strictly in the defence medals regulations. Medals would be provided initially to the deceased’s father, then mother, then eldest brother, then younger brother and so on. The authorities wrote to Annie enquiring as to which of Frank’s relatives were still living and therefore entitled. To confuse the issue further, Base Records in Melbourne wrote to Mrs Annie Pokarier at Wyalong, which is in NSW. The correct address of Wyaralong was only rectified after the intervention of a Boonah solicitor, John Darvall.

Frank Stumer had two elder brothers still living, one of whom was farming at the family property at Bunburra, but neither was interested in taking possession of the medals. The records are unclear as to who eventually received the medals and it may be that the medals were never claimed.

When Annie Pokarier completed the Roll of Honour Circular for her brother, she did so in the classic Gothic cursive script taught in German schools at the time; and even included an umlaut above the “U” in Frank’s surname.