Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Life Before the War

Frederick William Schneider was born in January 1893 in the town of Norwood, South Australia. Before World War 1, Frederick was a hardware assistant in the town of Norwood, South Australia. Frederick lived on 16 King Street in Norwood. He was single and was a religious man, his religion was Church of England. Church of England is a Western Christian Church, which combines Catholic and Protestant traditions, rejects the Pope's authority, and has the monarch as its titular head. Before World War 1, Frederick spent two years in the 10th Australian Infantry Reserve and one year in the 78th Infantry M.G.S. He was 18 or 19 when he started serving and he stopped serving after three years because his time expired.

Enlistment

Frederick enlisted for the war on the 14th of October 1915, in Adelaide, South Australia, aged 22. He was a reasonable height at 5.8 feet, but had a slim build weighting 64kg, he had a fair complexion along with brown hair and blue eyes. One month after enlistment in November 1915, Frederick was assigned to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade in the 5th Reinforcement. He embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on the 4th May 1916. Whilst on board the ship he changed unit to the 1st DAC.

Life in Service

Frederick was trained at Tel-El-Kebir in Egypt for Artillery Training, he started training on the 17th of June 1916. He ended basic training three months later and moved to his unit, which was the 1st DAC. After unit training Frederick served in Alexandrina, Egypt for a couple of months. Frederick was a driver in the 1st Division Ammunition Column which meant he transported ammunition to the 1st Artillery Division. The 1st Artillery Division supplied ammunition for the allied men in the trenches and the gunners firing at the enemy trenches.

On the 10th of September 1916, Frederick embarked from Egypt to England to serve on the western front. Frederick was part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The BEF was the name given to the British forces present on the Western Front. Frederick fought in Folkestone, England on the western front before his unit was transferred to Etaples, France for few months. Frederick was well liked amongst his unit and was friends with many.

Frederick was lucky to get leave for a few months. He spent his time in England and France like most soldiers did when they got leave. After returning from leave he continued to serve for a few months until the war ended. Frederick was discharged from World War 1 on the 29th of August 1919. He embarked back to Australia on the 12th of July 1919. Frederick didn’t sustain any major wounds or diseases and was one of the lucky soldiers of the war surviving and returning home to Australia.

Awards and Medals

Frederick was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Frederick was awarded them on the 3rd of April 1920. The British War Medal was established on the 26th of July in 1919. It was awarded to soldiers of the British and Imperial Forces who entered service overseas between the 5th of August 1914 and the 11th of November of 1918. About 6.5 million of these medals were awarded to soldiers with the recipient’s service number, rank, unit and name impressed on the rim. The Victory Medal was awarded to all men who served in the First World War in the armed forces. There is a rainbow coloured ribbon to which the medal is attached, and the medal has a figure of a women with her left arm extended and her right arm holding a palm branch.

ANZAC Spirit

Throughout the war, Australian and New Zealand soldiers like Frederick William Schneider showed many ANZAC qualities whilst fighting for their countries. These qualities included showing courage, endurance, initiative, bravery, discipline and mateship. To this day Australians still call on the ANZAC spirit in times of conflict, danger, and hardship.

Frederick William Schneider reflected the ANZAC spirit throughout his time serving during World War One by firstly signing up in the first place. Signing up for war was a big thing as he enlisted in late 1915 he knew about the high chance of dying in battle yet he still signed up to serve his country. He also reflected the ANZAC spirit by showing courage, bravery, and strength as he would drive into dangerous areas with bullets, bombs and other deadly items to deliver ammunition supplies.

Bibliography

·       Victory Medal 2017, Australian Government Department of Defence, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, http://www.defence.gov.au/Medals/Imperial/WWI/Victory-Medal.asp

·       British War Medal 2017, Australian Government Department of Defence, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, http://www.defence.gov.au/Medals/Imperial/WWI/British-War-Medal-1914-20.asp

·       AWM4 Subclass 25/27 - 1st Australian Divisional Supply Column 2017, Australian War Memorial, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338727

·       Frederick William SCHNEIDER 2017, UNSW Australia, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=267949

·       FIRST WORLD WAR EMBARKATION ROLL Frederick William Schneider 2017, Australian War Memorial, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1777983

·       Field Artillery Brigade 6, Reinforcement 5 2017, UNSW Australia, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showUnit?unitCode=ART.FAB6R5

·       Field Artillery Brigade 6 2017, RSL, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/units/155

·       FIRST WORLD WAR NOMINAL ROLL Driver Frederick William Schneider 2017, Australian War Memorial, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2404656

·       1st Divisional Ammunition Column 2017, RSL, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/units/356

·       FIRST WORLD WAR EMBARKATION ROLL Gunner Frederick William Schneider2017, Australian War Memorial, Australia, accessed 23 March 2018, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1777983