Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Biography – Frank Kinmont Taylor

Frank Kinmont Taylor, born on the 31 December 1895, in Mannum, South Australia, was a brave soldier of World War 1. He lived with his Christian parents, Robert and Sarah Hamlin Taylor along with his two brothers. Attending Blumberg Public & High School, he grew up to be Bank clerk. Frank had fair skin, grey eyes, light brown hair, was 5 foot 7 and 119 lbs.

On 8th January 1916, at the age of 21, he joined the Australian Imperial Force in order to serve in World War 1. Beforehand, he had had some experience as he was a part of the Australian Army Cadets for 5 years, to prepare himself. Leaving Adelaide on 25 March 1916, the unit embarked aboard HMAT A9 Shropshire. On the 15th of August, he reached the 32nd Battalion in France, serving as number 2738.

Starting on the 18th of August, Frank Kinmont Taylor was only on the battlefield for under a month before he got his first injury. On the 9th of September, he departed the field to go to the hospital due to him being sick, soon discovering he had a septic sore right leg. Sepsis is when there is an infection and bacteria in a joint. Some of the minor symptoms including, faster heart rate and a fever, whereas, it could be as bad as a major infection and organ failure. After resting and treating his leg, he rejoined the unit so that he could continue battling. In early 1917, Frank had accidentally fractured his lower jaw, which left them no choice but to send him to Aldershot, England. After over a year of recovery and getting back in shape, he returned to the 32nd Battalion on the 3rd of June, 1918.

Not long after, Frank Kinmont Taylor was sadly killed in action on the 24th of June, 1918, on the battlefield in France. He was only 23 at the time and fought from 1916-1918. He was buried in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery (Plot IX, Row C, Grave No 8), France. For serving in World War 1, he received two medals. British War Medal was awarded to him for participating in the war, and the Victory Medal was awarded to who entered a theatre of war on duty between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. He was a brave soldier and is missed dearly by his family and friends.

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1930154

Recordsearch.naa.gov.au. 2020. View Digital Copy. [online] Available at: <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1930154>.

https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=295609

Aif.adfa.edu.au. 2004. Frank Kinmont Taylor. [online] Available at: <https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=295609>.

https://www.awm.gov.au/advancedsearch/people?roll=Roll%20of%20Honour&people_preferred_name=Frank%20Kinmont%20Taylor&people_service_number=2738

awm.gov. n.d. Frank Kinmont Taylor. [online] Available at: <https://www.awm.gov.au/advancedsearch/people?roll=Roll%20of%20Honour&people_preferred_name=Frank%20Kinmont%20Taylor&people_service_number=2738>.

https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-wardead/results?firstName=Frank%2BKinmont&lastName=Taylor&serviceNumber=2738&war=1

From François Berthout

Pte 2738 Frank Kinmont Taylor
32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company,
8th Brigade, 5th Australian Division.
 
Under the blue sky of the Somme, thousands of white graves stand in silence on which are remembered and honored the names of a whole generation of young men who, far from home, for their country and for France, fought with bravery alongside their brothers in arms in the mud of the trenches in which they gave their day to see the light of peace break through the clouds of a world at war which stole the best years of these young men who, with determination, with faith and pride did their duty until their last breath of life in the name of peace and freedom in which we live thanks to them who rest in peace on these sacred grounds of the north of France where they shed their blood and over whom I will always watch with honor and respect to keep their memory alive so that the names of these heroes who gave their lives for us live forever.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and with the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2738 Frank Kinmont Taylor who fought in the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company, 8th Brigade, 5th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 104 years ago, on June 24, 1918 at the age of 23 on the Somme front.

Frank Kinmont Taylor was born on December 31, 1895 in Mannum, South Australia, and was the son of Robert Taylor and Sarah Hamlin Taylor (née Randell), of the Y.M.C.A, Adelaide, South Australia and had two brothers. Frank was educated at the Blumberg Public And High School, South Australia then after graduation, served four years in the Citizen Forces, worked as a bank clerk and lived in Mile End, City of West Torrens, South Australia.

Frank enlisted on January 8, 1916 in Adelaide, South Australia, in the 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company, 5th Reinforcement, battalion whose motto was "Audax Pro Patria" (Bold For The Country) and under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Donald Coghill .After a training period of just over two months at Blackboy Hill Camp, Frank embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board HMAT A9 Shropshire on March 25, 1916 and sailed for Egypt then proceeded overseas for France on board "Ivernia" on June 21.

On June 29, 1916, after a short voyage on the Mediterranean Sea, Frank arrived in France and was disembarked at Marseilles then proceeded to join unit at Etaples where he joined the 5th Australian Divisional Base Depot on August 8 and was taken on strength with the 32nd Battalion on August 15 at Bac St Maur, near Sailly-Sur-La-Lys (Pas-De-Calais) where they were mainly employed in working parties. Ten days later, on August 26, Frank fell ill and was sent and admitted to the 15th Australian Field Ambulance suffering from septic sore right leg and joined his unit on August 30.

On September 7, 1916, Frank was, only for one day, in command of a unit of medium and heavy trench mortar battery attached to the 32nd Battalion and then rejoined his original unit the next day. A month later, on October 15, Frank and the 32nd Battalion marched into billets at Strazeele (Hauts-De-France) then for Bailleul on October 17 and embarked by train for the Somme.

On October 18, 1916, Frank, alongside his comrades of the 32nd Battalion arrived at Longpre, in the Somme, marched through Gorenflos, Buire, Mametz, and arrived at Montauban on October 21, then were employed in fatigue parties in Mametz Wood where new lines and shelters were quickly constructed. A week later the battalion entered the front line at Montauban, in an area called "Factory House" where they relieved the 31st Australian Infantry Battalion and fought opposite a German trench called "Scabbard Trench" then on November 1, occupied the "Crest Trench" and the "Carlton Trench" which were constantly bombarded by enemy artillery.

On November 5, 1916 the 32nd Battalion was relieved by the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion and marched into billets at St Vast which they reached on November 9, then a little over a week later, on November 17,Frank was detached to the Assistant Provost Marshall of the 5th Division.

Two months after joining Assistant Provost Marshall of the 5th Division, Frank was accidentally wounded at Bernafay Wood on February 8, 1917, was evacuated to the 15th Australian Field Ambulance with a fractured lower jaw, transferred to the 12th General Hospital in Rouen on February 13, then evacuated to England on March 14 on board "St David" and admitted to Cambridge Hospital in Aldershot on March 15.

On April 14, 1917, Frank was discharged for furlough and report to Depot in Hurdcott then the following month, on May 25, marched out to Drafting Depot at Perham Down then for Longbridge Deverill and on December 27, proceeded overseas for France.
On December 28, 1917, Frank arrived for the last time in France and was disembarked at Le Havre but did not rejoin his unit until June 8, 1918 east of Amiens. On June 14, he and the 32nd Battalion took up positions between Rivery and Pont-Noyelles where, unfortunately on June 24, 1918, during a bombardment of the Australian lines by German artillery, he met his fate and was killed in action by a shell but was not the only victim of this shelling which killed 16 men and 4 mules.

Today, Frank Kinmont Taylor rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Father, mother and brothers Randell and Frank sadly miss him."
Frank, it was at the dawn of a life full of hopes and promises that with courage and determination you answered the call of duty to do your part on the battlefields of the great war alongside your brothers in arms who, like you, came from the other side of the world to fight in the name of peace and freedom and who, in the mud of the trenches, in the blood and the barbed wire, sacrificed their youth and lost their innocence under the howling metal thunder that the artillery spat day and night at an insane rhythm on lands bruised and devastated by the bites of tons of shells which transformed peaceful landscapes into lunar fields, into fields of death on which fell a whole generation of men who, with courage and conviction, charged bayonets forward through this hell of fire and steel alongside their friends against the hail of lead fired by the machine guns which mowed down in successive waves whole battalions which were swallowed by the putrid quagmires of tears and mud above which ceaselessly hovered the specter of death which, sly and silent, lurking in the shadows patiently waited for other young men to kill each other in the madness and fury of a world gone mad.In this nightmare that were the battlefields of the Somme, the living and the dead lived side by side, they watched over each other united by camaraderie and fraternity that nothing broke, no men remained behind and all did their duty with extreme bravery and found in the men standing by their side, the strength and the courage to fight despite the poison gas, despite the cold and the rats running between their legs, despite the dismal symphony of artillery and standing behind their guns they perseveringly held the front line never taking a single step back through those hurricanes of brutality, fire and steel they endured through four years of endless war that took the lives of their friends, of their fathers and brothers through the red fields of blood and poppies which grew between the dead bodies and the wooden crosses which soon stood up all over the north of France, a country which they knew little but for which they all fought like lions and for which thousands of them gave their lives.They were young and all animated by the inextinguishable flame of patriotism, they marched together behind the bugles and the bagpipes with the deep desire to fight but above all to do what was right with in their hearts, faith in God and love of their families and in tight lines, with their heads held high under their slouch hats and their steel helmets, climbed the wooden ladders and went over the top beyond the parapets to face their destinies but above all to make their country proud by their acts of courage and with honor, with loyalty, in the most beautiful spirit of camaraderie, they gave for us their today, their lives which are engraved today on their white tombs to tell us who they were and what they did for we who live in the peace for which they gave their all.Gone but not and never forgotten, we can never enough our gratitude enough for these men for whom I feel the deepest admiration and respect for what they did for us and what I know is that I would give my today and my life so that their memory, just like the poppies of the Somme never fades so that these heroes live forever. Thank you so much Frank,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him,we will remember them.