MCMAHON, Fredrick
| Service Number: | 4501 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Wollongong, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 June 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient) |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4501, 18th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: 'Name incorrectly recorded on original roll as: "McMahon, Frederick"' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4501, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Nestor, Sydney | |
| 7 Jun 1917: | Involvement Private, 4501, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 4501 awm_unit: 45 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-06-07 |
Fredrick McMahon
Frederick was born in Balgownie near Wollongong NSW on the 9th July 1888, He enlisted on 6/12/1915 He was the 2nd of 3 McMahon brothers who served in WW1.
the First Patrick Corporal in the Railway Corps. These guys drove steam trains all across France to transport stores, ammunition and injured. They provided an invaluable service. Patrick survived the war but after the armistice he stayed on and it appeared that he was a victim of the Spanish Flu that killed millions of people across Europe and the UK. He died of pneumonia in a hospital in Calais in France and was buried in a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Sangatte which is a little town on the English Channel just south of Calais.The third was James (Joe) McMahon. Joe was an ambulance driver/ officer in WW1. You can see the emblem on his arm. Joe survived the war and returned home.
I have pics of them all but can not up load for some reason
Submitted 13 May 2015 by Brett Murphy
Biography
The McMahon family had 3 sons go to the war and only 1 came home. Fredrick McMahon died in the Battle of Messines at around 1pm on the afternoon of 7th June 1917. This battle commenced at about 3:15am in the morning after the largest explosions ever to that time blew up under the German lines. This was the "Beneath Hill 60" battle where the allies tunnelled underneath the German lines and packed the tunnels full of explosives then detonated 21 mines at the start of the battle. Fred fell in that battle and like so many soldiers in this and other battles his body was never recovered. All the Commonwealth soldiers who's remains were not recovered have their names on the Menin Gate Memorial.
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