APPERLY, Frank Colin
| Service Number: | 2777 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 April 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 58th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia, 1896 |
| Home Town: | Parkville, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 19 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2777, 6th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2777, 6th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of Victoria embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
| 10 Sep 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2777, 6th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of Victoria, Melbourne | |
| 19 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2777, 58th Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2777 awm_unit: 58th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-19 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Frank Apperly was born in 1896, the second youngest of six children born to Jessie and Henry Apperly of the Sydney suburb of Waverley. Apperly’s father passed away in 1908, and Apperly lived with his mother until he was 14 years old, when he left to go and work on a farm. At the time of his enlistment, he was living and working as a farmer in Victoria.
He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 2 April 1915. Frank Apperly was one of three brothers to serve for Australia in the First World War. His older brothers Cyril and George also served.
Gunner Cyril Barkly Apperly 6th Australian Field Artillery Brigade was killed in action in Belgium 7 November 1917, aged 24.
In Egypt, Frank Apperly transferred from the 6th Battalion to the newly formed 58th Battalion, which formed part of the 15th Brigade of the 5th Australian Division. He took part in Australia’s first major engagement on the Western Front, the battle of Fromelles, in which he was reported missing. It was not until September 1917, well over a year after the event, that he was officially declared to have been killed in action on 19 July 1916. A report in his Red Cross file stated that an injured Australian soldier saw Apperly’s body in no man’s land near the Australian lines, likely cut down by German machine-gun fire. His body was never found. He was 20 years old.
He gave his next of kin as his sister, Lily Apperly of Parkville Victoria as his next of kin.
On 15 January 1921, in a declaration confirming herself to be Frank Colin Apperly's nearest living next-of-kin, Jessie Seaton formerly Apperly, wrote:-
"....in 1885 I married Henry Lawrence Apperly and he died in March 1908. In June 1913 I remarried [my new husband being] Robert Graham Seaton [who] divorced me in June 1917......
My son [Frank Colin Apperly] lived with me till he was about 14 years of age and then on account of my circumstances, I had to take up paid work, [Frank] went to work on a farm and lived there."
Jessie added that she had not seen Frank since some two years before he enlisted, since 1913, when Frank would have been about 17, and concluded with the comment: "...and the only reason I can think of his leaving his sister as his next-of-kin instead of myself is that he supposed me dead."
Frank’s medals allotted to mother.
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