Frank Russell LUCAS

Frank Russell LUCAS Update Details

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LUCAS, Frank Russell

Service Number:	517
Enlisted:	8 September 1914, Morphettville, South Australia
Last Rank:	Sergeant
Last Unit:	3rd Light Horse Regiment
Born:	Port Pirie, South Australia, 11 November 1888
Home Town:	Adelaide, South Australia
Schooling:	Unley High School, South Australia
Occupation:	Bank clerk
Died:	Accidental (car crash with a tram), Adelaide, South Australia, 31 August 1941, aged 52 years
Cemetery:	Glen Osmond (St. Saviour) Anglican Cemetery, South Australia
Memorials:	Unley Town Hall WW1 Honour Board

World War 1 Service

8 Sep 1914:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 517, Morphettville, South Australia
22 Oct 1914:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 517, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: ''
22 Oct 1914:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 517, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Port Lincoln, Adelaide
16 May 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 517, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli
22 Jul 1919:	Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 517, 3rd Light Horse Regiment

Help us honour Frank Russell Lucas's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Dajmien Loucas

Frank Russel Lucas, lived with his mother, Mrs. W. A. Lucas, in Fisher Street, Malvern, South Australia. He was born in Port Pirie, South Australia, on 11 November 1888. Frank was christian but unmarried. His occupation was bank clerk.

At enlistment Frank weighed 151 pounds, had brown hair, blue eyes and was 5’10 inches tall. Frank's regimental number was 517. He joined the army on September 8, 1914. Frank embarked for service from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on 22 October 1914.

Frank's initial unit was the Australian Army Pay Corps. He also served in the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. The 3rd was raised in Adelaide on 17 August 1914. Although most of its recruits were enlisted in South Australia, the 3rd’s major engagement was the abortive Second Battle of Gaza on 19 April. Gaza finally fell on 7 November, after a wide outflanking move via Beersheba, in which the 1st Light Horse Brigade played a part.

The regiment was also deployed to protect the Nile valley from bands of pro-Turkish Senussi Arabs. On 18 May, as part of its parent brigade, it joined the forces defending the Suez Canal. The 3rd Light Horse rejoined the allies across the Sinai in November and was involved in the fighting to secure the Turkish outposts on the Palestine frontier at Maghdaba on 23 December 1916 and Rafa on 9 January 1917.

With the capture of Gaza, the Turkish position in Southern Palestine collapsed. The final British offensive of the campaign was launched along the Mediterranean coast on 19 September 1918, with the ANZAC Mounted Division taking part in a subsidiary effort east of the Jordan aimed at Amman.

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