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Berrol Lazar MENDELSOHN was born on 15th May, 1891 in Esk, Queensland

His parents were Saul MENDELSOHN and Abigail ROSENSWEIG

His brother Oscar Adolph MENDELSOHN also served in WW1 (SN2563) and was discharged in 1917

55th Bn.Australian Infantry, A.I.F.

He was 25 and the son of Mrs. Abbie Mendelsohn, of "Berrol," Neridah St., Chatswood, New South Wales, and the late Sali Mendelsohn.

Lieutenant Mendelsohn was from Mosman NSW. He is the only Jewish buried in the cemetery. He was the great, great uncle of the Australian actor, Ben Mendelsohn.

From Marie Victorine, Australia and NZ in WWI

FROMELLES “PHAESANT WOOD” Military Cemetery

Lieutenant MENDELSOHN, BERROL LAZAR
Died 20/07/1916
Aged 25
55th Bn.
Australian Infantry, A.I.F.

Son of Mrs. Abbie Mendelsohn, of "Berrol," Neridah St., Chatswood, New South Wales, and the late Sali Mendelsohn. Native of Esk, Queensland.  Berrol Lazar MENDELSOHN was born on 15th May, 1891 in Esk, Queensland
His parents were Saul MENDELSOHN and Abigail ROSENSWEIG
His brother Oscar Adolph MENDELSOHN also served in WW1 (SN2563) and was discharged in 1917
A soldier of Fromelles

The Western Front Association (Posted on March 11, 2012) has this story about a Jewish Australian soldier who was killed at Fromelles, found with 249 other soldiers in 2007 and laid to rest in 2010 in the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. At that time, Lt. Berrol Lazar Mendelsohn was the only Jewish soldier who had been identified, though others were known to have been killed there.

The 1916 battle, which had little military importance, was the worst 24 hours in Australia’s military history, says the Guardian newspaper. In one night, 5,533 men from the Australian 5th Division were killed, wounded or reported missing. Here’s a link to the Guardian article, written nearly a year before the cemetery was finished. There are interesting details about recovering the remains.

Lieut. Berrol Mendelsohn, whose death in action occurred somewhere in France on July 20, was a native of Esk, 25 years of age, and second son of the late Mr. S. Mendelsohn, of Qneensland, and of Mrs. Mendelsohn, Ullenbar, 67 Raglan street, Mosman. He was attached to the Naval Brigade from a lad, and when compulsory training was inaugurated he obtained a commission in the 19th Infantry, in charge of the machine-gun section, and quickly mastered the details. He earned special commendation at Liverpool encampment, 1913, for the smart manner his men performed their work, taking less than half British Army standard time to bring their gun into and out of action. He was well known in swimming circles, having been a member of the Bondi Club for many years, and won many prizes, including the right to hold the Kelly Challenge Cup for a year. He left for Egypt as lieutenant in charge of reinforcements on July 28, 1915, and was immediately sent to Gallipoli, and stationed at Quinn's Post, remaining at his post until the evacuation. He was transferred to one of the newly-formed battalions training in the desert. He left for the battlefields of France, where his first engagement has proved his last. He joined the Pardrian Rubber Co. shortly alter leaving school, and remained with the firm for nine years, until be enlisted. Lieutenant Mendelsohn's youngest brother, Oscar, left recently with artillery for the Front.
- The Queenslander, Saturday 2 September 1916

Killed overnight in the German trenches, Battle of Fromelles.
Buried in the mass grave established by the German Army for Australian and British dead at Pheasant Wood, his identity disc returned to the British War Office.

One of the men positively identified when the mass grave was found in 2007, and interred 2010 in the newly built Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.

LIEUTENANT BERROL MENDELSOHN.—Well known to all Fortians  and especially to swimmers, was Lieutenant Bernd Mendelsohn, son of Mrs. Mendelsohn, of Mosman who was  killed in action in France
on 20th July last. Apparently his death must have occurred within a day or two of his reaching the firing line, as a cable had just been received from him from Egypt a week or two  before his death. While in Sydney he was very well known as a swimmer, being the champion of the Bondi Club and frequently competed in our Old Boys’ races at the annual  carnival. He had been long connected with naval and military affairs, while in civil life he has been since boyhood on the staff of Perdrian and Company.