Frederick AUBREY MM, MID

Badge Number: S11497, Sub Branch: Onkaparinga
S11497

AUBREY, Frederick

Service Number: 471
Enlisted: 10 December 1914
Last Rank: Sergeant
Last Unit: 11th Light Horse Regiment
Born: South Yarra, Victoria, Australia, May 1889
Home Town: Oakbank, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Carpenter
Died: Darwin, Northern Territory, 26 February 1940, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Gardens Road Cemetery, Darwin, NT
Gardens Cemetery row 1055
Memorials: Woodside District of Onkaparinga Honour Board
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World War 1 Service

10 Dec 1914: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 471, 11th Light Horse Regiment
2 Jun 1915: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 471, 11th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: ''
2 Jun 1915: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 471, 11th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Medic, Brisbane
29 Aug 1915: Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 471, 11th Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli
11 Sep 1915: Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 11th Light Horse Regiment
25 Feb 1916: Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 11th Light Horse Regiment
11 May 1917: Honoured Military Medal, Egypt and Palestine - Light Horse and AFC Operations, "For gallantry and devotion in the field".
6 Jul 1917: Honoured Mention in Dispatches
1 Oct 1917: Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 471, 11th Light Horse Regiment
11 Nov 1918: Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 471, 11th Light Horse Regiment
Date unknown: Wounded 471, 11th Light Horse Regiment

MID and MM

Service Number: 471
Rank: Sergeant
Unit: 11th Australian Light Horse Regiment
Service: Army
Conflict / Operation: First World War, 1914-1918
Award: Mention in despatches
Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 11 October 1917
Location in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: Page 2664, position 69
Date of London Gazette: 6 July 1917
Location in London Gazette: Page 6773, position 65

Service Number: 471
Rank: Sergeant
Unit: 11th Australian Light Horse Regiment
Service: Army
Conflict / Operation: First World War, 1914-1918
Award: Military Medal
Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 27 August 1917
Location in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: Page 1828, position 23
Date of London Gazette: 11 May 1917
Location in London Gazette: Page 4600, position 7

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Biography contributed by Paul Lemar

Frederick Allan AUBREY was born in 1888 in South Yarra, Victoria to David and (1843-1922) and Mary Ann AUBREY (1853-1939) (nee WILLIAMS).

Military

Frederick AUBREY joined the AIF on 07.12.1914 and allocated service number 471. He was attached to the 6th Squadron the 11th Light Horse brigade. He saw service as an infantry man at Gallipoli and later in a number of locations in the middle east. On 01.04.1916, he was promoted to sergeant. He was mentioned in despatches (mid) on 06.07.1917. On 21.03.1917, he was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty in the field. (London Gazette 11.05.1917.

He had a number of hospital admissions during his enlistment due to a dislocated shoulder which kept reoccurring.

On 12.07.17, he embarked for Australia aboard ‘Port Sydney’. Arriving in SA, he was admitted to the military hospital at Keswick. Frederick AUBREY was discharged as permanently unfit for duty and granted a pension from 02.10.1917

“The formation of the 4th Light Horse Brigade, and the 11th Light Horse Regiment as part of it, was announced on 11 February 1915. Two squadrons of the 11th Light Horse were subsequently formed in Queensland, and a third in South Australia. The regiment was united for the first time at Fraser's Paddock Camp, outside Brisbane, on 2 May 1915. It sailed from Australia in two contingents in June 1915. The first contingent was landed at Aden on 12 July to reinforce the British garrison there against a predicted enemy attack. They re-embarked on the 18th of July without having seen any action.

The regiment was reunited in Egypt on 23 July 1915 and began training as infantry, having been ordered to leave its horses in Australia. A month later it deployed to Gallipoli. The regiment was again split up, to reinforce three light horse regiments already ashore. ‘A’ Squadron went to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment, ’B’ Squadron to the 5th, and ‘C’ Squadron to the 9th. It was not reunited until the 12 of February 1916, by which time all of the AIF troops from the Gallipoli peninsula had been returned to Egypt.

Returning to its mounted role, the 11th Light Horse joined the forces defending the Suez Canal on 20 July 1916. In ensuing months, it conducted patrols and participated in several forays out into the Sinai Desert. In April,1917 the regiment moved into Palestine to join the main British and dominion advance. It joined its first major battle on the 19th of April when it attacked, as infantry, dismounted, as part of the ill-fated second battle of Gaza.

With two frontal attacks on Gaza having failed, the next attempt to capture the Turkish bastion was a wide outflanking move via the town of Beersheba, launched on 31 October 1917. A deteriorating tactical situation late on the first day of the operation caused the 11th's sister regiments - the 4th and the 12th - to be unleashed on Beersheba at the gallop, an action which has gone down in history as the charge of Beersheba. The 11th, engaged on flank protection duties was too widely scattered to take part. Another charge was mounted by the 11th and 12th regiments against Turkish positions at Sheria on the 7th November, but, confronted with heavy fire, the troopers were forced to dismount and eventually withdraw.

After Gaza fell on 7 November 1917, Turkish resistance in southern Palestine collapsed. The 11th Light Horse participated in the pursuit that followed, and then spent the first months of 1918 resting and training. It moved into the Jordan Valley in time to participate in the Es Salt raid between 29 April and 4 May. The regiment subsequently defended the crossing points over the Jordan, and helped to repulse heavy Turkish and German attacks on 14 and 15 July .

In August, the regiment was issued with swords and trained in traditional cavalry tactics in preparation for the next offensive against the Turks. This was launched along the Palestine coast on 19 September 1918. The 11th Light Horse displayed its versatility at Semakh on 25 September by first charging the Turkish defences around the town on horseback, with swords drawn, and then clearing the actual town on foot, with rifle and bayonet.

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Biography

Husband of E P AUBREY