Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Private Frederick Andrew AMOS was born in 1883 and raised in the town of Dundee, Scotland.  He moved to Australia and settled in Port Haslam on the West Coast of South Australia working as a farmer. His next of kin was his sister, Winifred Mill Amos who lived in London, England.

 On 3 April 1916, Frederick enlisted for military service in Adelaide. On July 13th, 1916, Frederick embarked on the HMAT A48 Seang Bee from Adelaide.

After a two-month voyage by sea, on September 9th, the HMAT A48 Seang Bee arrived in Plymouth, England. After arriving in the UK, Frederick and the soldiers aboard the ship departed and were transported to training camps on the Salisbury Plains, near Stonehenge. On the 25th of October, Frederick was reassigned and ‘taken on strength’to the 43rd Battalion. After two months of preparatory training, Frederick departed the UK and arrived in France on November 25th, 1916. After arriving in France, Frederick and the 43rd Battalion were transported to the Western Front in late December 1916.

Throughout most of 1917, the 43rd Battalion spent most of their time bogged in trench warfare in Flanders. During this time, Frederick participated in various battles and military engagements. Before the battalion’s first engagement on March 31st, 1917, Frederick was in trouble due to “conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline,” which refers to behaviour that disrupts the expected standards of military discipline and order. In this case, he was ten minutes late to the battalion’s military parade on the field. Unfortunately, in that same month, he was sent to the hospital and admitted for Bronchitis. He was admitted to a Division Rest Station during his treatment. After being discharged from the hospital and ready for combat, Frederick was then sent to a Divisional Reserve Camp on May 9th. On the 14th of the same month, he rejoined the 43rd Battalion for military service.

On June 7th, Frederick and his unit engaged in their first battle, the ‘Battle of Messines’. This was the first large-scale action involving Australian troops in Belgium, and it also marked the entry of the 3rd Division into a major battle. The battle was fought near the Messines Ridge in Belgium. Unfortunately, Frederick was injured on the 11th, the last day of the ‘Battle of Messines’, after receiving gunshot wounds to both the arm and thigh. On the 12th, he was swiftly transported out of the Western Front via an Ambulance Train (28th Ambulance Train) and taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. There, he was treated and hospitalised for his wounds. On the 13th of July, after one month of hospitalisation, Frederick was admitted to the 16th Depot. Then, on the 22nd of that same month, he was transported to base, under the condition of being “unfit for service.” Then, on the 25th, Frederick was marched into the ex. hospital in Nouvelles. On August 24th, he was discharged from the hospital and marched back to his unit. Two days later, on the 26th, Frederick rejoined his unit on the Western Front in France.

On September 26th 1917, the Frederick contributed to the 43rd Infantry Battalion's engagement in the ‘Battle of Polygon Wood’, part of the Third Battle of Ypres. Australian troops played a key role, advancing behind the barrage and securing their objectives despite the fierce German counteroffensive. The battle was intense, with the Germans launching multiple counterattacks; however, the Allied artillery fire effectively thwarted them. Ultimately, the battle was a British success, despite resulting in 5,770 Australian casualties. Fortunately, Frederick remained unharmed throughout the month-long engagement.

His battalion’s next engagement was part of the Third Battle of Ypres, ‘The Battle of Broodseinde Ridge’. The battle began before dawn, and the Australian troops faced heavy shelling on their start line. A seventh of their number became casualties before the initial attack started. Concurrently, the Germans had also planned their offensive for the same morning, resulting in a chaotic clash as both sides advanced simultaneously. Shortly after, the Australians forged through the German assault waves and gained all their objectives along the ridge. The battle did come with a cost, however. German pillboxes were characteristically tricky to subdue, and the Australian divisions suffered 6,500 casualties. Fortunately, Frederick withstood the 24-hour engagement, remaining unscathed by the Germans' counteroffensive. On the 6th November, one month after the unit’s last engagement, he was sent to the hospital and admitted for Nephritis, and on the 10th, he was sent to England for treatment of his condition.

Frederick’s condition did not allow him to participate in further war efforts, and he disembarked from England on May 22nd, 1918. On August 12th of the same year, Frederick was formally discharged from service due to being ‘medically unfit’, and by that time, had safely arrived back in Australia. Frederick passed away on August 6th, 1951, and is buried at Springvale Botanical Cemetery in Victoria.