SMILES, Frank Stanley
| Service Number: | 324 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 February 1915, An original member of C Company |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 19th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Albury, New South Wales, Australia, 1883 |
| Home Town: | Albury, Albury Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | St Patrick’s Parish School, Albury, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Tradesman |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 2 December 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Douchy-les-Ayette British Cemetery Plot III, Row E, Grave No. 4. BELOVED SON OF THOMAS & BRIDGET M. SMILES OF ALBURY, N.S.W. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Manly War Memorial NSW |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 324, 19th Infantry Battalion, An original member of C Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 324, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 324, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Frank Smiles was the third of three Albury brothers who lost their life during WW1. All of them died of wounds. Frank’s youngest brother, 909 Pte Leonard Kerry Smiles, 2nd Battalion AIF, died of Gallipoli wounds in Egypt, 1 May 1915, aged 20 and 1225 Pte [Ernest] Pearce Smiles, 4th Pioneer Battalion, died of wounds, 6 August 1916, aged 29.
The boys were the sons of Thomas and Bridget Smiles, Albury, and each had attended St Patrick’s Parish School in Albury.
Frank Smiles, 19th Australian Infantry Battalion, was reported missing on 11 November 1916. He was reported as killed in action on November 14, which was later corrected as having died while a prisoner of war in German hands at Morchies, France.
A Red Cross inquiry included the translation of a German death voucher, which noted Frank as suffering from a shrapnel wound with a fracture of his left thigh and buttock, plus frost bite to both feet.
A report from the field detailed Private Smiles taking part in the charge at the Battle of Flers, Somme Valley.
The Red Cross received a report from a mate who wrote, “We took the German front line and held it.”
“Frank had his leg broken during the taking of the trench. “He was lying in the trench in a conscious condition when we left.
“I saw that he was fixed up all right just before we went out. The 26th battalion relieved us. They brought stretcher bearers with them. We hope they got him out, but we have found out nothing further as to his fate.”
In fact, Frank was taken prisoner by the Germans and died later three weeks later, his death later confirmed by a German death list.
Eight years later, on 29 November 1924, Thomas Smiles was informed that Frank’s remains had been exhumed from the German cemetery at Morchies and re-interred “with every measure of care and reverence” in the Douchy Les Ayette British Cemetery, north-west of Bapaume, France.
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