4176
FROST, Alfred William
| Service Number: | 4176 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 August 1915, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 50th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia, 1871 |
| Home Town: | Albert Park, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Sawyer |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4176, 10th Infantry Battalion, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 4176, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 4176, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Adelaide | |
| 12 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 4176, 50th Infantry Battalion, Mouquet Farm, GSW right arm, leg and eye. Right eye subsequently removed | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Private, 4176, 50th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
Life before the war
Alfred William Frost was 44 years and 3 months old at enlistment in August 1915. He voluntarily left his home and his job as a wood machinist, and the security which that job brought. Alfred William Frost had no experience of being in the army at enlistment. He was born in Castlemaine, Victoria however he enlisted in Adelaide, South Australia. He was part of a family that believed in the Church of England. He lived with his brother who was also his next of kin in Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria. He was unmarried and had no children. Due to working as a wood machinist and apprenticing as a diamond setter he would have had experience working with tools, but not necessarily the types of tools used when he was at war. He had a fair complexion, grey eyes and dark brown hair.
Life during the War
After being enlisted into the army and embarking from Adelaide on the 11th of January 1916 on the HMAT A30 Borda, Alfred spent two months in the 2nd Depot Battalion before being allotted to the 50th Battalion on 29/2/1916 in Egypt. From Egypt he sailed to Marseille in early June.
Alfred was not long on active service before his batatalion was involved in the fighting at Mouquet Farm in August 1916. On 12 August the 50th Battalion advanced into the front line and was subjected to shelling by the Germans which led to many causalties. Alfred was one of them. According to the subsequent medical report, filed in his Service Record, "While in action received shrapnel wounds destroying right eye and breaking right arm and leg". His eye was removed and he lost some function of his right hand.
On 13 February 1917 Alfred boarded a ship to return to Australia where he was dicharged on 25 June 1917. His wounds left him permanently unfit for service and with a disability that would affect his life upon return to Australia. The details of Alfred's postwar life are unclear.
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