FRANCE, Sydney Frederick
| Service Number: | 4720 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Leichardt, New South Wales, Australia, 1896 |
| Home Town: | Leichhardt, Leichhardt, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Leichardt Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Grocer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 20 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Leichhardt War Memorial, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4720, 17th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4720, 17th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 13 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4720, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Sydney Frederick France and his older brother Joseph Douglas France, both of Leichardt in Sydney NSW, enlisted together on the 24 January 1916. They were given consecutive regimental numbers in the 17th Battalion AIF, 4719 and 4720. The brothers joined the 17th Battalion in Belgium 21 September 1916. Both were evacuated with severe trench feet during the bitterly cold winter of 1916, during November 1916. The two brothers were both killed on the first day of the Battle of Menin Road, 20 September 1917. An eye witness to the boys’ death, Corporal J.V. Jacka stated to the Red Cross, “I knew both of these boys well, as they happened to be in the same platoon as I am. Syd France was a runner when our Battalion went over the top on the 20th. He was sitting in a trench when a shell burst on our parapet. A piece of shell struck him on the chin and caused the bone to be broken right away. He received immediate attention but died at the first dressing station. He would have been buried there. The exact position of the place I can’t tell you. Joe France was with his company up till after they had dug in after reaching their objective. He was in a shell hole when a Fritz machine flew down over our lines and opened a machine gun on us. One of the bullets from this machine pierced Joe’s heart. He would have been buried in the trench. As for proofs of their identity, Syd had a gold tooth which was very noticeable. He also stuttered a bit. Both of these boys went to England in November 1916. Syd arrived back in April 1917 and Joe about August 1917.”
Syd was only 21 years old, and although it states in his file that he was buried in the vicinity of Westhoek and Anzac Ridge, his remains were never found. Joe France lies in the Poelcapelle British Cemetery Belgium, killed at 25 years of age.