KIRBY, Frederick Albert
| Service Number: | 14952 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Suffolk England, England, July 1884 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bricklayer |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Sep 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 14952, Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 14952, Field Company Engineers, HMAT Aeneas, Sydney | |
| 9 Mar 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sapper, 14952 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Frederick Kirby was born in Suffolk, England, in July 1884 and grew up in household that were followers of the Church of England. Kirby moved to Sydney and married his wife Mrs. Mary Kirby. Kirby’s job before enlisting in the war was a bricklayer and later moved to South Australia to live at 30 Nelson Street, St Peters. From his service record it seems that later his wife moved to Renmark.
Kirby enlisted on 31st of January 1916 and at the time of enlistment he was 5 foot 8 inches and 132 lbs. (59.8 kg) with a fresh complexion. Kirby also had a scar on his forearm and outer calf. When he signed up, he became a reinforcement of the Field Company Engineers and was assigned a Sapper position. He received the position on the 3rd of June 1916 at the Engineer’s Depot in Moone Park.
Kirby role as a Sapper was interesting. Sappers were always in very high demand given how dangerous the job was and how few people wanted to do it. A Sapper’s job was considered very high risk. Some of their varied daily tasks included digging trenches out in the open whilst under enemy gun fire. Or planning and implementing missions where they would dig under the enemy trenches and set up controlled explosions to explode straight up and destroy the enemy areas/ bunkers above. This strategy was not particularly dangerous but it was a very lengthy process as they would have to dig the tunnels by hand and had to do it quietly enough so the other side would not hear them. Sappers were also responsible for placing or clearing minefields and fortifying trenches, mostly whilst under fire.
Kirby embarked on the S.S. Aeneas on 30th September 1917 and proceeded overseas to France in September 19th 1917. The S.S. AENEAS was built in 1910 as a transport ship which was eventually destroyed some 30 years later on the 4th of July 1940 by a German air raid. Kirby was admitted to hospital for being sick with diarrhaea on the 27th July 1918, rejoining his unit on 3rd August 1918. He was admitted to hospital again on the 9th August 1918 with a fractured right ankle an a gunshot wound to his left calf. On his medical report, Kirby was admitted to Edmonton Military Hospital, Edmonton, England on the 12th August 1918. It can be assumed that he was admitted to this hospital given it was the closest available medical hospital from where he was fighting (France). Kirby returned to Australia on H. T. Kashmir arriving back on te 23rd April 1919.
It is unknown what happened to Kirby after the war.