LIPSCOMB, Frederick Neville
| Service Numbers: | 2168, N244991 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 19th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hornsby, New South Wales, 28 December 1892 |
| Home Town: | Gunnedah, Gunnedah, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Coronary heart desease, Goulburn, New South Wales, 26 June 1952, aged 59 years |
| Cemetery: |
Privately Cremated |
| Memorials: | Normanhurst South Hornsby Methodist Boys Honour Roll, Pennant Hills & Thornleigh District Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 19th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2168, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2168, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Sydney | |
| 5 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Sergeant, 2168, 19th Infantry Battalion, GSW Left Arm | |
| 9 Dec 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 19th Infantry Battalion | |
| 15 May 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 19th Infantry Battalion | |
| 8 Apr 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lieutenant, Shrapnel Wound Left Thigh | |
| 13 Aug 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 19th Infantry Battalion, Discharged as medically unfit. | |
| 18 Sep 1918: | Honoured Military Cross, For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Hangard Wood on April 8, 1918 with four others and another party under Lt Storkey VC attacked 80 enemy and machine guns - Lt Lipscomb killed eight whilst the others captured 53 and killed the rest. |
World War 2 Service
| 15 Mar 1942: | Enlisted N244991 |
|---|
Lieut F.N. Lipscomb MC
Frederick Neville Lipscomb was born on 28th December 1892 at Normanhurst, son of William & Jessie Lipscomb of Hornsby. Before WWI he trained as a wool-classer at tech college, and worked at Kaludah station of a Mr Crisp of Cooma; enlisted 5th July 1915; trained at Liverpool (Sydney); Departed Australia on 30th September 1915 on the troopship Argyleshire for Egypt via Colombo; further training in Egypt; joined British Expeditionary Force and moved to Marseilles via Troopship Haverford in March 1916; served with 19th Battalion, 2nd Division, AIF on the Western Front at Armentieres, and then Pozieres; wounded several times and hospitalised at Wandsworth Military Hospital, England, where he met his future wife; later hospitalised with severe enteric gastro-enteritis; promoted from Private to Second Lieutenant and Lieutenant; won the Military Cross for an action on 8th April 1918 during which a German machine gun was captured at Hangard Wood (a fellow officer, Lieut P.V. Storkey, won the VC) - Fred was again wounded in this action; married Isobel May Ward at Weston Super Mare, Somerset, England in 1918; Fred & May came to Australia in the same year, and Fred was discharged from the Army in May 1919. They lived briefly in Gunnedah (in Conadilby Street), but Fred found that the shrapnel wound on the knee prevented him from taking on farm activities. Served as State Secretary of the newly formed RSSILA (later renamed the Returned Soldiers League) from 1921-24 and lived in Roseville; resigned in order to accept an appointment at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, London, where he advised prospective migrants on matters relating to Land Settlement, etc. On returning to Australia he became the RSL representative on the Soldiers’ Settlement Reappraisement Board. Despite continuing ill-health, he was appointed Federal Land Valuer of the Southern District for the Federal Land Tax Department, and moved to Goulburn in 1929. Served as OC and battalion 2IC of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) in Goulburn during WWII; was a prominent member of the Church of England, a member of the Cathedral Council at St Saviour’s Cathedral and represented the parish on the Diocesan Synod. He remained in Goulburn until his death of heart failure on 25th June 1952 (aged 59).
Submitted 11 September 2015 by Adrian Lipscomb
Biography contributed by Michael Silver
The oldest of William and Jessie Lipscomb's eight children, Fred Lipscomb left Australia on September 30, 1915 as part of the 19th Battalion.
He served at Pozieres and Armentieres and was wounded. Whilst recuperating in hospital at Wandsworth, England he met his future wife.
He gained promotion to Lieutenant in 1917 and after a bout of enteric fever, returned to his unit and won the Military Cross on April 8, 1918, during an engagement at Hangard Wood. A fellow officer, Lieutant Percy Storkey, won the Victoria Cross for his role in the same engagement.
Lt Lipscomb was again wounded in this engagement, suffering a severe shrapnel wound to his left thigh. But his new stay in hospital was an opportunity to marry his sweat-heart Isobel May Ward. Due to his injuries, Fred was discharged from the AIF as medically unfit and returned with his bride to Australia in August 1918.
Fred Lipscombe returned to the family farm near Mullaley and the couple lived in Conadilly Street, Gunnedah. However he found that the shrapnel wounds to his leg restricted his ability to carry out work on the farm and the couple moved back to Sydney.
From 1921 to 1924 Fred was State Secretary of the R.S.S.I.L.A. He then took up an appointment at the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, England advising prospective migrants to Australia. He and his wife returned to Australia in 1929 and moved to Goulburn where he pursued a career as a Federal land valuer.
He was prominent in the Volunteer Defence Corps during World War II, as well as in the Church of England. He was troubled by the war wounds to his legs for the rest of his life and died at Goulburn in 1952, aged 59.
Two of his brothers, Pte Eric Lipscomb and Gunner Neville Lipscomb were killed in action in 1917.
Credit: RG McLean
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