Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Roy Frederick Heard was born and raised in North Ryde, NSW, Australia, in 1898. He lived on Wicks Road, North Ryde, where he is believed to have spent most of his life. Raised as a member of the Church of England, he lived with his mother and father, Nellis May Heard and Fred Bailey Heard, and his 4 sisters: Helen Donaldson Lane Pearse, Lilly May Heard, Myrtle Mary Heard and Nellie Gladys Heard. (1) Heard attended Ryde Public School during his youth. After completing junior school, Heard attended Sydney Technical High School before the war, before starting his career as a papermaker. Heard was single upon enlistment. Heard was also presumable a member of the Church of England, likely due to his background. 

Heard first enlisted on 5 September 1915, falsely claiming that he was 21 (he was 17). He also claimed that he had three years of experience in the 19th Infantry, Citizen Military Forces. He embarked on 8 March 1916 aboard the HMAT A15 Star of England as a part of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Reinforcement to Egypt. (3) After serving in Egypt for just over a month, on 20 April 1916, he joined the 54th Infantry Battalion at Ferry Post. The 54th Infantry Battalion was part of the AIF’s "doubling" process. Half of the battalion consisted of veterans from Gallipoli, while the other half, including Heard, were recruits from Australia.

Heard and the 54th Infantry Battalion embarked for France and the Western Front on 19th June 1916. On 19 July 1916, the 54th Battalion fought in the battle of Fromelles. The battle was disastrous for the battalion, as they were part of the initial assault and suffered heavy losses, with more than 50 percent of the fighting force being lost on the first day. This was also the day that Roy Frederick Heard lost his life. 

Heard’s final rank was Private, and he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He is commemorated on three memorials: the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ryde Public School Roll of Honour, and Sydney Technical High School WW! Roll of Honour. He was buried in the Ration Farm Military Cemetery (Plot VIII, Row D, Grave No.12), La Chapelle d’Armentieres, France. 

References 

Virtual War Museum, PTE Roy Frederick HEARD, Anonymous UNSW Australia,

The AIF project, PTE Roy Frederick Heard, Anonymous

Ken Stevenson, Research on Google Drive

Roy Frederick Heard was born in 1898 in North Ryde, New South Wales, the only son of Fred Bailey Heard and Nellie May Pearse. He grew up on the family’s farm on Wicks Road with his three sisters in a household active in the Church of England.

Roy attended Ryde Public School and later Sydney Technical High School, where he was awarded a merit certificate in 1913. After leaving school, he began work in papermaking and trained in the Citizen Military Forces. His father’s death when Roy was just nine had left the family reliant on his mother, and by his mid-teens Roy was working and supporting the household.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Roy was only 16. In September 1915, aged just 17, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Holsworthy, New South Wales, overstating his age as 21 to be accepted for service.

After six months’ training, Roy was posted as a private to the 2nd Battalion, 15th Reinforcements. In March 1916 he embarked from Sydney on the HMAT Star of England bound for Egypt, where he helped defend the Suez Canal against Ottoman attack. The following month, Roy transferred to the newly formed 54th Battalion, created by combining Gallipoli veterans with new recruits.

In June 1916 the battalion sailed for France, joining the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. After a brief period near the trenches of Fleurbaix, the Australians were ordered into their first major action at Fromelles on 19 July 1916. The assault was intended to divert German reinforcements from the Somme. The 54th Battalion advanced into heavy artillery and machine-gun fire, suffering staggering losses of around 65 per cent. Sergeant W. H. Downing later described how “hundreds were mown down in the flicker of an eyelid … but still the line went on.”

Roy was among the young recruits thrust into this disaster. Between 19 and 20 July 1916 he was killed in action at just 18 years of age. For many months his fate was uncertain until he was officially recorded as killed in action in 1917.

He is buried in Ration Farm Military Cemetery, La Chapelle-d’Armentières, France. His mother received his medals, memorial plaque and scroll after the war, along with correspondence she had pursued for many years seeking confirmation of her son’s final resting place.

Private Roy Frederick Heard is remembered on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and on the Sydney Technical High School Honour Board.