Frederick John Christopher DOWN

Badge Number: S1236, Sub Branch: Unley
S1236

DOWN, Frederick John Christopher

    Service Number: 2629
    Enlisted: 5 August 1915, Adelaide South Australia Australia
    Last Rank: Private
    Last Unit: 2nd Machine Gun Battalion
    Born: Adelaide, South Australia, 24 August 1874
    Home Town: Mile End, City of West Torrens, South Australia
    Schooling: Not yet discovered
    Occupation: Tailor
    Died: 26 October 1956, aged 82 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered
    Cemetery: Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia
    Memorials:
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    World War 1 Service

    5 Aug 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Adelaide South Australia Australia
    16 Aug 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2629, 27th Infantry Battalion
    27 Oct 1915: Involvement Private, 2629, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: ''
    27 Oct 1915: Embarked AIF WW1, HMAT Benalla
    27 Oct 1915: Embarked Private, 2629, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Adelaide
    11 Nov 1918: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2629
    18 Jul 1919: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion
    3 Nov 1919: Discharged AIF WW1
    Date unknown: Involvement 27th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières
    Date unknown: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2629, 27th Infantry Battalion

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    Biography

    Surname: DOWN; Given Names: Frederick John Christopher; Date of Birth: 1 August 1873; Date of Enlistment: 5 August 1915; Trade or Calling: Tailor; Birth Location: Adelaide; Address prior to enlistment: Glenelg; Photograph sent by: Miss Down
    Source: State Records SA

    Frederick Down enlisted at age 42, although he declared himslef to be 40. He declared himself to be single at the time, listing his mother Mrs Mary Jane Down as Next of Kin. Fred was allocated to the 6th Reinforcement draft for the 27th Battalion joining it in the Middle East just prior to embarkation for Marseilles and its arrival on the Western Front. He was admitted to 3 Australian General Hospital in February 1916, with influenza. He would likely have rotated through "The Nursery Sector" around Armentieres between April. The 19th July opned the Australian account on the Western Front at Fromelles follwed just a few days latter by the 1 Division assault on Pozieres. On the 4th August the 27th Battalion took part in the 2 Division attack that wrested the Windmill feature from the Germans and it was most likely on the course of this that Fred was wounded receiving a gunshot would to his left arm. This saw him evacuated eventually to the UK. ON return from hospital he was assigned to the 7th Australian Machine Gun Company
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