FACER, Francis Walter
| Service Number: | 1117 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 July 1915, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 29th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | St Pancras, London, England, 1884 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 26 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Hooge Crater Cemetery, Belgium Grave XVI. C. 9., Hooge Crater Cemetery, Passchendaele, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1117, Melbourne, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Nov 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1117, 29th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 10 Nov 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1117, 29th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Melbourne | |
| 26 Sep 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1117, 29th Infantry Battalion, Polygon Wood, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1117 awm_unit: 29th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-09-26 |
Help us honour Francis Walter Facer's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Francis Walter Facer was the eldest son of a family that later lived at 56 Grove Road, Grays, Essex.
He emigrated to Australia in about 1911 and enlisted in July 1915.
He trained in Egypt and was killed by sniper’s bullet at Polygon Wood. Prior to emigrating he worked with his father for the Orient Line in Tilbury Docks and was a Blacksmith in Australia.
Births Mar 1884 Facer Francis Walter Pancras 1b 167
Frank is commemorated on the Grays War Memorial which stands at the north end of Grays High Street; the names of the borough’s Great War dead are inscribed on the east and west panels, while the south-facing panel is inscribed with four lines from the poem, "Bivouac of the Dead" written by Danville, Kentucky native, Theodore O'Hara to honour his fellow soldiers from Kentucky who died in the Mexican-American War. The poem increased its popularity after the Civil War, and its verses have been featured on many memorials to fallen soldiers throughout the world,
On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.
Other locally born casualties who fell whilst serving with Australian forces in the Great War who are commemorated on the Grays War Memorial are;
Henry C. Aslett
William Mears
Cecil Charles Mitcham
Bertram Neal
Josiah Needham Smith
Albert Stephenson
William George King
It must be assumed that the following locally born Australian casualties didn’t make it to any of the borough’s war memorials, possibly because there were no living relatives still around in the district when the lists were created.
George Seth Clayton
Charles Culley
Jesse Humphrey
John Musgrove
Richard Turnbull
C. Webb
Click images to start slideshow.