EVATT, Francis Septimus
| Service Number: | 31079 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 September 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 1st Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Maitland, New South Wales, Australia, 17 August 1898 |
| Home Town: | Milsons Point, North Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Fort Street Boys High School, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Medical student |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 29 September 1918, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Tincourt New British Cemetery Plot V, Row F, Grave 7. "HIS BROTHER RAY 20TH BATT. A.I.F. ALSO FELL 20.9.17" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Petersham Fort Street High School Great War Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Sep 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 31079, 1st Field Artillery Brigade | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Dec 1916: | Involvement Gunner, 31079, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: RMS Orontes embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 19 Dec 1916: | Embarked Gunner, 31079, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, RMS Orontes, Sydney | |
| 29 Sep 1918: | Involvement Gunner, 31079, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 31079 awm_unit: 1st Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1918-09-29 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Francis Septimus Evatt was one of four sons of Jane Sophia Evatt and the late John Ashmore Hamilton Evatt (died 1901) of Milson’s Point, New South Wales.
He was known as Frank Evatt. He was brilliant student at Fort Street Boys School in Sydney and he enlisted at the age of 18 when he was a first-year student at the Medical School of the Sydney University.
His brother Lieutenant Raymond Scott Evatt M.C. 20th Battalion AIF had been killed in action in the Battle of Menin Road, Belgium on 20 September 1917, at 21 years of age.
Frank enlisted as a Gunner with the 1st Field Artillery Brigade and arrived in England during February 1917. He joined his unit on the Western Front in July 1917. He was severely wounded on 26 September 1917, six days after his brother Raymond was killed, and was evacuated to England with gunshot wounds to his chin and left shoulder. He rejoined his unit at the front just after New Years Day 1918.
Frank was mortally wounded on 29 September 1918, by a fragment from an exploding gas shell. This happened near Bellicourt, France and he died in a Casualty Clearing Station the same day.
The potential for Frank Evatt to have gone on and made an exceptional contribution to Australia was highlighted by that the fact that his brother, Herbert Vere ‘Doc’ Evatt, QC, PC, KStJ was an outstanding Australian politician and judge. He served as a justice of the High Court of Australia for 10 years, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs, and leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the Opposition from 1951 to 1960. ‘Doc’ Evatt is considered one of Australia's most prominent public intellectuals of the twentieth century, according to the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
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