FRANCIS, William Carrington
| Service Number: | 7377 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 5th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Sydney, NSW, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Mosman, Municipality of Mosman, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Shipping clerk |
| Died: | Unsure but he really never recovered fully from his War experience, Adelaide, South Australia, 1 September 1951, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
West Terrace Cemetery (AIF Section) |
| Memorials: | Northbridge (Shore) Sydney Church of England Grammar School Memorial Cricket Ground Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement Gunner, 7377, 5th Field Artillery Brigade , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Persic embarkation_ship_number: A34 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked Gunner, 7377, 5th Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Persic, Sydney |
1918 Christmas Card
I was recently going through family memorabilia and found a Christmas card written (in pencil) from my Great Grandfather, William Carrinton Francis of the 5th Artillary Brigade, 14th Batallion, to his sister Aimee Francis in Sydney. The card is dated Christmas 1918 and I presume was sent some time before that date! Was the war still on when he wrote it - I suspect so as he would have probably mentioned the end of hostilities and the possibility of coming home on the card. The illustration is of a devastated Villiers Bretonneux church. (I will post a picture of the open card where it says upload a picture in the hope it can be joined to this story!)
Submitted 8 August 2018 by Roger Goldfinch
Biography contributed by Roger Goldfinch
Uncle "Billie", as he was known, returned from the War and married and moved to live in Adelaide shortly after returning home. He was a Shipping clerk when he enlisted and according to census data was employed as a clerk for the rest of his life. He died at the age of 63 which indicates to me that he probably didn't fully recover from his experiences on the Western Front. He suffered a damaged right hand during the war and though he was a gunner using 18 pounders I suspect the injury was from use of the gun rather than a field injury! He didn't progress in his work responsibilities which would indicate to me that he was having trouble adjusting to life at home.
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