FARR, Arthur Thomas
| Service Number: | 3299 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ingham, Queensland, Australia , 3 January 1886 |
| Home Town: | Townsville, Townsville, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Commercial Traveller |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 1 February 1917, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension Plot II, Row M, Grave No. 3. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ipswich Methodist Church Great War Honour Roll, Mackay Old Town Hall Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3299, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3299, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Bee embarkation_ship_number: A48 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3299, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Bee, Brisbane | |
| 1 Feb 1917: | Involvement Sergeant, 3299, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3299 awm_unit: 15th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1917-02-01 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Arthur Farr was the son of William and Ellen Farr, born in Ingham, Queensland. He worked in Townsville, for D. & W. Murray Limited, a large drapery firm, as a commercial traveller, and he representing that firm in and around the Cairns Hinterland.
He enlisted in the 15th Battalion in 1915, and fought at Pozieres in August 1916, being awarded a Military Medal for the following, “This N.C.O. was in command of a Grenade Section and throughout operations north west of Pozieres from 5th to 11th August, 1916, did exceptionally good work and showed courage of a high order. Under heavy fire he assisted Sergeant Moore to carry in Sergeant Morgan of the 15th Battalion, Machine Gun Section, who was wounded and lying in an exposed position. On the morning of the 7th August, 1916, Corporal A.T. Farr did a piece of exceptionally good work bombing a German Trench and was the cause of the capture of eight Germans.”
At Gueudecourt on the Somme during February 1917, the Australians faced the harshest winter weather: “driving bitter winds, snow-frozen ground, and sharp frosts”
On 1 February, near Gueudecourt, the 15th Battalion attacked a section of the German front line known as Stormy Trench. The party consisted of 150 men and six officers, or one and half companies. The attack started at about 7.00 p.m. on a frontage of 500 metres. Although the enemy trenches were only 100 metres from the Australian lines, inadequate artillery support and poor overall planning caused the attack to fail. A German counter attack at 11 p.m. was beaten off. In the face of relentless German shelling of the captured trenches, and a stronger German counter attack at 4.30 a.m. the Battalion was forced to retire. Although 52 German soldiers were captured, the 15th Battalion’s casualties were 33 men killed, 20 captured by the Germans and over 80 wounded.
Farr was badly wounded during the assault and he was said to have been captured when the Germans counter attacked. It was discovered later that the Germans had buried him in the Hermies Cemetery, and that he died of his wounds in a German dressing station shortly after capture. His grave was well cared for and marked. After the war, in 1923, his remains were moved and interred in the Achiet-Le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension.
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