Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Frank Rudolph Simmich #16 9th Battalion

Frank Simmich enlisted, as his low regimental number suggests, just two days after recruiting opened in Brisbane on 22 August 1914. At the time, he was 29 years old, single and gave his occupation as lorryman. Frank would appear to have been living at Gordon Street, Coorparoo with his parents Annie and Rudolph and younger brother Arthur.

Frank was drafted into the 9th Battalion as a driver attached to battalion headquarters. No doubt his transport skills would have been in great demand as the battalion set about establishing a camp at Enoggera.

Barely one month after enlisting, Frank embarked with the rest of Battalion HQ on the “Rangatira” at Pinkenba wharf, and arrived in Alexandria with the bulk of the AIF on 2nd March 1915. Frank’s records are unclear but it seems he was with the 9th when they landed at Gallipoli on the morning of 25th April. Since the Gallipoli landings had not gone according to plan, there was little use for a transport driver on the beaches and hills and Frank was detached back to Alexandria on 19th May to perform general transport duties in Egypt. In early October 1915, Frank was admitted to hospital with septic dermatitis for a week, and then was readmitted to hospital again in December with the same complaint.

He was discharged to his unit in January 1916, and after the reorganisation of the AIF embarked for Marseilles, arriving there on 2nd April 1916. The 9th Battalion was posted to the northern sector of the western front to acclimatise to the intricacies of trench warfare before being called upon to support the British offensive on the Somme.

When Haig opened the Somme offensive in July of 1916, the 1st Division AIF(of which the 9th was part) was first into action (as it had been at Gallipoli as well) in an attack on the village of Pozieres during late July and early August 1916. The Australians had eventually secured the village and the important blockhouse on the site of a windmill above the village. It was now time to continue the offensive towards a ruined farm further along the ridge which the Germans had heavily fortified by extending the cellars and creating a line of three defensive trenches. The farm was depicted on the maps as “La Ferme du Mouquet” but the Australians referred to it as “Moo Cow Farm” or “Mucky Farm.”

The assault of the farm was conducted on an ever decreasing front that was enfiladed by German artillery and machine guns. The ground was so churned up that advancing troops could not recognise a trench line when they reached it. Attempts to dig new trenches were unsuccessful due to the loose ground caving in. In late August, the 9th Battalion after suffering significant casualties at Pozieres, was put back into the line below Mouquet Farm to relieve other battalions. In perhaps an effort to replace the casualties, Frank Simmich reverted to the ranks as an infantryman. The 9th Battalion diary reported that communications were a shambles as various companies attempted to relieve each other. On 22 August 1916, exactly two years since his enlistment, Frank Simmich was reported killed in action by enemy artillery fire. He was among 52 fatal casualties that the battalion suffered that day, all due to shell fire.

Frank Simmich’s body was never recovered. Like the other 11,000 Australians killed in the Somme battles with no known grave, Frank Simmich is listed on the panels of the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. Today just outside the village of Pozieres, half way between Albert and Bapaume are the remains of a windmill and German blockhouse. The windmill provides a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. On the site of the windmill is a commemorative stone which reads:

“The ruin of the Pozieres windmill which lies here was the centre of the struggle on this part of the Somme Battlefield in July and August 1916. It was captured by Australian troops who fell more thickly on this ridge than on any other battlefields of the war.”