Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Jack and Elizabeth Black of Fitzroy, Victoria. Brother of Millie Black, H. Black and Alexander Black who returned to Australia on 27 August 1918 having served with the 2nd Tunnelling Company

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Served in the Senior Cadets for about 5 months

Frederick Black, known as Fred, was born in 1896 at South Melbourne VIC, the youngest of 8 children born to his parents John, known as Jack, and Elizabeth Black.  His older siblings were John, George, Herbert (died 1886 5mths), Cornelius, Alic, known as Alexander, Francis and Amelia, known as Millie.  Fred worked on a farm for a time then was an apprentice to Mr Ivers Kearny for 6 months.  He also did training for 5 months with the Senior Cadets.  The Black family lived in Gore Street, Fitzroy, and Fred became best mates with his neighbour, Bert Cramer, who was 3 years younger than himself. 

When WW1 broke Fred, aged 18, was determined to enlist and he encouraged Bert to join him.  However, as Bert was only 15 he was under age so he would need his mother’s consent, however, she would not give it.  So Bert ran away from home taking with him his swag and all his savings…a whole ten pence.  He walked 200 miles to Albury NSW then made his way to Sydney where he enlisted.  There is no record of this enlistment but newspaper reports state that he spent 6 weeks in camp.  However, when he was told he needed a minor operation to correct an eye problem he declined that and returned to Melbourne.  When he arrived back home his mate Fred persuaded him to have another crack at it so this time they went together.  They enlisted at Melbourne on 14th December 1914 and their attestation papers are almost identical.  Both state they were living at 15 Gore Street, Fitzroy…the address of the Cramers.  Tragedy had befallen the Black children with the death of their father in 1899 when Fred was just 3 and then their mother died in 1905.  The older children were all working so it would seem that after the death of their mother Fred and his sister Millie then lived with the Cramers till they were old enough to take care of themselves. 

Fred’s service number was 1503 and Bert’s was 1582.  Their rank was Private and they were assigned to the 6th Infantry Battalion.  They proceeded to the 3rd Reinforcements Depot but were in different companies of the 6th Battalion…Fred in A Company and Bert in C Company.  The 6th Battalion was part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1st Division. 

Fred is described as being 5ft 4ins tall with a fresh complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair.  After he and Bert completed their training at Broadmeadows Camp they embarked for Egypt from Melbourne on HMAT Runic on 19th October 1914 then sailed with the 1st Convoy from Albany WA on 1st November.  They disembarked at Alexandria on 2nd December and proceeded to Mena Camp.  The Battalion remained there until early April 1915 when they embarked from Alexandria on HMT Galeka bound for Gallipoli.  However, for whatever reason, Fred did not join them.  The ship anchored in Mudros Bay off Lemnos Island where they completed more training then they proceeded to Gallipoli arriving there in early hours of the 25th April.  They went ashore under heavy fire at 6am in the 2nd wave.  In the following days the 6th Battalion held positions at 400 Plateau above Anzac Cove and west of what is now known as Lone Pine. 

Fred arrived at Gallipoli on 7th May but 2 days prior to this the 6th Battalion had received orders to proceed to Cape Helles.  The British had landed there on the 25th April but had failed to take their objectives.  The 2nd Infantry Brigade, which included the 6th Battalion, was called upon to take part in the 2nd Battle for Krithia.  They arrived at Cape Helles in the early morning on the 6th May and disembarked at V Beach at Sedd-el-Bahr.  The strength of the 6th Battalion was 22 Officers and 703 other ranks.  The attacks on the 6th and 7th May failed so on 8th May, the 2nd Infantry Brigade, under the command of Brigadier-General McCay, was given 35 minutes warning that it was to join the attack at Krithia.  Their objectives were to capture Krithia and Achi Baba.  The Australians were to advance along Krithia Spur between the right flank of the New Zealand brigade and the edge of Kanli Dere.  They had to move up to 800yds from their reserve position just to reach the start line at "Tommy's Trench".  The attack commenced at 5.30pm with bayonets fixed.  The Brigade managed to advance a further 500yds beyond the start line but suffered 50% casualties in the process losing 1,000 men in the first hour who were cut down by machine gun fire.  When it was all over the 2nd Infantry Brigade had lost a third of its men and the 6th Battalion had lost 133 men.  Bert was one of them.  He was killed in action on 8th May 1915 aged 15.  He has no known grave.  They failed to take their objectives and it had been extremely costly for the Australians and the New Zealanders who lost 835 men.  It was a battle that should never have happened, advancing on an enemy they could not see.  It was a day of heartbreaking bravery and loss with the ANZACs showing once again that spirit that made them famous on the 25th April 1915 when they first set foot upon Gallipoli. 

There were 2 spectators there watching the attack on the 8th May at Krithia…Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander of the Allied Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, and Charles Bean…Australia’s official historian for WW1.  Bean was in the trenches with the Australians and watched them move forward despite the odds.  He was in awe and he reports hearing one of the Officers shout “Come on chaps, we’ve got to go get it sometime.”  Hamilton was watching from a hill and later wrote that he heard a wounded British Officer say “It was worth 10 years of tennis to watch the Australians and New Zealanders go in.” 

The war diaries for both the 6th Battalion and the 2nd Infantry Brigade don’t start until May 1915.  The reason for this is that there was a bombardment of the headquarters on the 8th May 1915 resulting in the wounding and deaths of the Brigade’s staff.  The diaries and other documents were also lost in this bombardment. 

Fred’s service record doesn’t state whether he joined Bert and the Battalion at Krithia.  If he was there, then he was one of the few to survive the battle.  It was reported in an Australian newspaper that in referring to Bert’s death Fred said: “Poor old Bert was killed in the second engagement.  I was sorry for him as he would not have enlisted only for my asking him.”  Bert is commemorated on panels 201-204 (or 332) of the Helles Memorial at Cape Helles, Gallipoli, west of Sedd-el-Bahr.  The memorial sits on the headland at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula overlooking the Dardanelles.  It is the main Commonwealth battle memorial for the whole Gallipoli campaign, and also commemorates over 21,000 Commonwealth servicemen with no known grave who died in the campaign during WW1.

The 6th Battalion embarked from Cape Helles on 16th May on HMS Reindeer and anchored that night off Gaba Tepe.  They disembarked the next day and made their way to the trenches at Anzac Cove where they were held in reserve due to the depletion of their numbers after the battle of Krithia.  On the 12th July 1915 the trenches sustained a heavy bombardment from the enemy and the Battalion sustained many casualties…Fred was killed in action that day, aged 18.  He was buried in Shrapnel Valley Cemetery at Gallipoli. 

Fred is commemorated on panel 46 of the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra ACT.

After the war his sister Millie received his medals as well as a Memorial Scroll, Plaque and Royal Letter from the King.  These were presented to the next of kin of those who died while serving in the Australian Imperial Force in WW1, acknowledging the soldier’s service and their loss as a family.            

Frederick Black was awarded for service in WW1 the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and the Anzac Commemorative Medallion.  

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith 26th February 2024.

Sources

The Lost Boys by Paul Byrnes (book)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Krithia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helles_Memorial