SOUTER, Francis Henry
| Service Number: | 3610 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hilston, New South Wales, , Australia, 12 December 1890 |
| Home Town: | Uraidla, Adelaide Hills, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Sacred Heart College, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Photo engraver |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 12 October 1917, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Crafers WW1 Memorial, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Somerton Park Sacred Heart College Men of "The Marist Brothers Old Scholars Association" Honor Roll WW1, Summertown Cemetery Memorial Arch Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3610, 27th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3610, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Adelaide | |
| 12 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 3610, 48th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3610 awm_unit: 48 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-10-12 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Father
Captain John Francis Souter, Australian Army Medical Corps AIF, was born on the 11 September 1866, and he enlisted on the 21 September 1915, and left the same day for the voyage only, as the medical officer on board the HMAT “Star of England”. He returned to Australia on the 31 October, 1915 aboard the “Aeneas” and arrived back in Adelaide. He was 49 years of age and a medical practioner in Uraidla SA. He had arrived in Egypt in good health, however he suffered from bouts of dysentery and “Nile fever” and he arrived back in Australia quite unwell. Unfortunately, John died in Adelaide soon after his return, from tetanus following an operation for liver disease, in a private hospital. John Souter died on the 26th February 1916 and was buried in an Adelaide Catholic cemetery. His name is recorded on the Roll of Honour in Canberra. He was the father of seven children, two of his sons also enlisting in the AIF.
3610 Private Francis Henry Souter, joined up about the same time as his father, in August 1915. He left Australia in January 1916, with the 27th Battalion, and transferred to the 10th Battalion in Egypt. He was wounded in action at Pozieres, a leg wound, and then transferred to the 48th Battalion in October 1916. He was wounded in action for a second time at Bullecourt on the 10th April, 1917 suffering a gun shot wound to the hand, and did rejoin the unit until late May 1917. He was killed in action on the 12th October 1917, 25 years of age, and having no known grave he is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium.
A second son, 17962 Private John Herbert Ignatius Souter served in the 5th Field Ambulance. He enlisted at the age of 18 in January 1917, and arrived in England in December 1917. During this period he sent much correspondence to the Red Cross trying to find out what had become of his missing brother. He arrived in France in April 1918, suffered a gun shot wound to his left buttock in August 1918, and was evacuated to England, then returned to Australia during December 1918.