S3316
WAKELIN, Francis Godfrey
| Service Number: | 1087 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 October 1942, Blakehurst, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, 15 September 1894 |
| Home Town: | Semaphore, Port Adelaide Enfield, South Australia |
| Schooling: | unknown |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Natural causes, 29 September 1957, aged 63 years, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Executor Trustee Agency Company of SA WW1 Roll of Honour, Hackney St Peter's College Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 1087, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 1087, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide | |
| 24 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 1087, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Katuna Fremantle, Western Australia | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Lieutenant, 32nd Infantry Battalion |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Oct 1942: | Enlisted Blakehurst, NSW |
|---|
Help us honour Francis Godfrey Wakelin's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Glenunga International High School
Francis Godfrey Wakelin (1894-1957)
World War 1, commonly referred to as ‘The Great War’, or ‘The War to End All Wars’ was a global conflict full of that centered in Europe. Lasting from 28th of July 1914 - 11th of November 1918, the war began when the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on the 28th of June. At this point in time Australia was still apart of British empire, and the people were eager to prove the worth of the armies of the recently federated Australia (State Library of Victoria \ Ergo, The Rush to Enlist, 2017).
On the 4th of August 1914 Australia officially declared that they would bear arms alongside Britain in the war (Australian War Memorial, First World War 1914-1918, 1980) and hundreds of thousands of men, young and old, joined the Australian and New Zealand armies (later known as the ANZAC’s) over the course of the war. One such man was Francis Godfrey Wakelin.
Francis Godfrey Wakelin was born on the 15th of September 1894 in Sydney, New South Wales to his mother Frances Alice Wakelin and father whose name is unknown. The Wakelin family was of the Church of England (The AIF Project: Francis Godfrey Wakelin 2004-2016), and consisted of Wakelin, his parents and his brother. They lived on 51 Stepney Street, St Peter’s, South Australia (The AIF Project: Francis Godfrey Wakelin 2004-2016). Not much information is known about Wakelin’s mother or father, however there is quite a substantial amount of information about his brother, Frederick William Wakelin.
Frederick was born on the 23rd of September 1892 in Melbourne. He enlisted a year before Wakelin, was assigned to the Section B Field Ambulance 4 and received the Croix De Guerre, a French military medal that rewarded bravery (The AIF Project: Frederick William Wakelin 2004-2016). Frederick died on the 2nd of August 1973, aged 81, due to natural causes. Curiously, neither brother had recorded any information on each other in their service records.
Francis Wakelin had worked as a clerk before he enlisted. The basis of his enlistment was unknown however it is speculated that he had enlisted as a result of financial issues (State Library of Victoria \ Ergo, The Rush to Enlist, 2017). Many Australians during WWI had never served in the military, or had any experience in fighting whatsoever before the war. Wakelin however was an exception, serving as a school cadet for 2 years, and then serving in the R.A.N.A (Royal Australian Navy Aircraft) for 2 years. Wakelin was still apart of the R.A.N.A when the war started (National Archives of Australia, Francis Godfrey Wakelin’s Service Record, 1915-1920).
Wakelin enlisted in Adelaide on the 8th of June 1915, single, aged 21 and was assigned to the 32nd Infantry Battalion. Wakelins embarkation roll number was 23/49/1. He had made 2 embarkations, one from Adelaide, South Australia on the 18th of November 1915 aboard the HMAT A2 Geelong and another from Fremantle, Western Australia on the 24th of November 1915 aboard HMAT A13 Katuna (The AIF Project: Francis Godfrey Wakelin 2004-2016).
Records indicate that the sole battle Wakelin has been a part of was the Battle of Fromelles (National Archives of Australia, Francis Godfrey Wakelin’s Service Record, 1915-1920). Widely considered as a military failure, the Battle of Fromelles was the first major battle ever fought by the Australian troops on the Western Front. The battle took place in the French commune of Fromelles, lasting from the 19th of July 1916 - 20th of July 1916. The main intent of this battle was to be a feint used to draw German troops away from the Somme offensive and then be pursued by the German troops further down south (Australian War Memorial, Battle of Fromelles, 1980). However the Germans realised that this was, in reality, nothing more than feint within hours and after a day full of bloodshed with thousands dead the allied forces were forced to retreat. As this battle was just a feint, it had no notable impact upon the progress of the Somme offensive (Australian War Memorial, Battle of Fromelles, 1980).
During this battle Wakelin’s battalion experienced 718 casualties (about 75% of the battalion’s strength) and an ample amount of injured soldiers (Australian War Memorial, 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 1980). Wakelin was one of these injured soldiers. According to Wakelin’s service record, (1915-1920) he sustained his injury on the 19th of July 1916, and shortly after receiving his injury Wakelin was taken to a hospital in Wimereux (a small commune on the western coast of the Hauts de France region of France) (google maps: Wimereux 2017).
Once the war ended Wakelin was discharged and he returned to Australia on the 1 May 1919 (The AIF Project: Francis Godfrey Wakelin 2004-2016). Peculiarly Wakelin had also decided to join WWII (RSL War Memorial, Francis Godfrey Wakelin WWII, 2017) this was strange as most of those who enter wars return different, and would go to great lengths for the purpose of forgetting the terrors that had occurred to the point of suicide.
Wakelin died on the 29th of September 1957 aged 63 due to natural causes (The AIF Project: Francis Godfrey Wakelin 2004-2016), and was buried at an unknown location.
Reference List
Australian War Memorial, First World War 1914-1918, 1980, [accessed 2 April 2017]. <https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww1/>
Australian War Memorial, 32nd Infantry Battalion, 1980, [accessed 2 April 2017]. <https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51472/>
Australian War Memorial, Battle of Fromelles, 1980 [accessed 2 April 2017]. <https://www.awm.gov.au/military-event/E159/>
The AIF Project, Francis Godfrey Wakelin, 2004-2016, [accessed 2 April 2017]. <https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=310225>
The AIF Project, Frederick William Wakelin, 2004-2016, [accessed 2 April 2017]. <https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=310226>
State Library of Victoria \ Ergo, The Rush to Enlist, 2017, [accessed 3 April 2017]. <ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/explore-history/australia-wwi/home-wwi/rush-enlist>
National Archives of Australia, Francis Godfrey Wakelin’s Service Record, 1915-1920, [accessed 3 April 2017]. <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8398864>
RSL War Memorial, Francis Godfrey Wakelin WWII, 2017, [accessed 3 April 2017]. <https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/583834>
Google Maps, Wimereux, 2017, [accessed 3 April 2017]. <https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Wimereux,+France/@50.7735573,1.5795876,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47dc2e9275471c1b:0x9f920b9495232899!8m2!3d50.769517!4d1.610207>