HANDCOCK, Reginald Francis
| Service Number: | 4127 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 October 1915, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Myrrhee, Victoria, Australia, May 1895 |
| Home Town: | Myrrhee, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Myrrhee Primary School |
| Occupation: | Farm labourer |
| Died: | Suicide, Beechworth, Victoria, 23 February 1933 |
| Cemetery: |
Wangaratta Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: | Myrrhee HB1, Myrrhee State School Pictorial HB, Oxley War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4127, Melbourne, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4127, 21st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4127, 21st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne | |
| 26 Aug 1916: | Wounded Private, 4127, 21st Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , Fractured right leg, 'severe' compound fracture from gunshot wound | |
| 6 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 4127, 21st Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, Gun shot wound right arm, right leg severe. Right leg amputated above knee | |
| 8 Apr 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 4127, 21st Infantry Battalion |
The 'Aggressive' Handcocks
The Aggressive Handcocks
Reginald Francis “Frank” Handcock was one of eight brothers to sign up from the family of Charles and Harriet Handcock, from the Upper Fifteen Mile Creek area of Myrrhee in North East Victoria. It is said that the Handcock family had the world record for number of sons enlisting for WWI from any one family. Of the brothers Albert John was the only member to be killed in action (Gallipoli, May 1915) while Charles Handcock was the other brother from the eight who did not make it home to Australia, dying of bronchial pneumonia in November 1918. The other six brothers survived WWI, although Reginald had his right leg amputated below the knee due to a gunshot wound during Third Ypres otherwise shortened to just Passchendaele (around Zonnebeke?). He was earlier wounded at Pozieres in August 1916 (to the ankle) but recovered to rejoin his battalion. In an up-beat letter from England after the amputation he wrote that it was amusing to see the other fellows trying to use their artificial legs and that he was keen to have a go himself. He also has one of his arms paralysed.
Then as now the Handcock's are a well regarded and respected family of hop farmers whose Upper Fifteen Mile Creek hop gardens have seen continual production since the 1890's. That the family hop growing enterprise survived the boom – bust (mainly bust) hop growing profitability cycle of the 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000’s, when most independent growers went out of business, is testament to the family’s resilience and hardiness of the family.
“The Handcock's must be aggressive, six of them going!” (Capt Gerald Evans MC, 8th Bn, Myrrhee resident, letter to mother, 11/6/1916)
Submitted 27 January 2018 by Evan Evans
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