GRAY, Frank Ernest
| Service Number: | 2659 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 May 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 52nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Southampton, England, March 1879 |
| Home Town: | Enoggera, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Moulder |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 5 April 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Enoggera Shire Council Roll of Honour WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 26 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2659, 52nd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 2659, 52nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 2659, 52nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
Help us honour Frank Ernest Gray's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Peter Gallagher
Ernest was the seventh child of Thomas and Hannah Gray. He was born in Southampton in March 1879, and migrated to Brisbane, Australia with his parents and eight surviving siblings in 1887.
Ernest was a moulder by trade, but had not served an apprenticeship. He did not marry.
Ernest was twice woulded in action in France. He was killed in action near Dernancourt on 5th April 1918 during what has become known to the British side as the Battle of Dernancourt.
Ernest was originally buried in the vicinity of Dernancourt, possibly in a smaller cemetery. In 1921 Ernest's body was located and reinterred at the Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France, in Plot 9, Row D, Grave 6. Military historian John Laffin8 describes Dernancourt as one of the important place-names in Australian war history because of the courage, triumph and loss of life that took place there.