Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Francis James Kerrish (Kerrisk) was born on the 19th of August 1898 in Broken Hill, New South Wales to Edith Goodrich Hollyoak and William Timothy Kerrish. Kerrish had a sister by the name of Sarah who was his next of kin, she lived at 90 Mrs Dawes, Street in Gawler, Adelaide. He also had two half-brothers by the names of James Christopher and Alexander John Thyer Kerrish whose father was Francis Henry Sproll. Kerrish’s job before enlisting in the army was as a labourer and at the time of enlistment he served as a Senior Army Cadet. As an Army Cadet Kerrish trained in preparation for enlistment into the Australian Army. Cadets who were 17 and above were considered senior cadets, which was the position Francis James Kerrish held at the time of enlistment. He enlisted at the age of 18 years on October 5th, 1916 in Adelaide as a Private in the 10th Infantry Battalion A Company.

On the 7th of November 1916 Kerrish began his journey by ship, boarding ‘The Afric’ with his Battalion, to Plymouth located in South-West England. Plymouth was a base for the Royal Navy, the Army, the Royal Marines and, from 1917, the newly established Royal Naval Air Service. There was also a Royal Naval Hospital and a Military Hospital (Arts Council England et al. 2021) After 2 months and one-week Kerrish and his Battalion arrived at Plymouth on the 9th of January. After some training on the 21st of January Kerrish and his Battalion journeyed to the 3rd Battalion who were located in Durrington, England.

On the 9th of February, after two months of traveling, Kerrish was taken sick to Fargo hospital, England. Many of the patients of this hospital were either sick, injured, or prisoners of war. On the 17th of February Kerrish and his Battalion continued marching to Durrington, where they met up with the 3rd Training Group's 9th 10th and 11th Training Battalions who had also been relocated to Durrington camp on 30 Jul 1917” (Durrington - Our Contribution 2021). They arrived on the 6th of August 1917.

The Battle of Polygon Wood began on the night of the 19th of September. During this time 10th Battalion journeyed towards Polygon Wood and faced gas shelling and a heavy muddy track causing progress to slow and forcing the men to wear gas helmets. By 3:00 am the Battalion had reached the assembly tape. This tape was generally laid the night before an attack to indicate where the Battalion should be situated. Once in position the Battalion experienced more shelling causing disorientation of and loss of a few men. The Battalion advanced to to a post which was manned by 50 men with 3 machine guns, the post was cleared leaving 40 of the enemy dead. By the end of the first day about 50 men in the 10th Battalion had died. After the second day the Battalion was relived at midnight by the 2nd Battalion and the 1st brigade.

The Battle of Polygon Wood was Kerrish’s first battle in the trenches. During this battle Kerrish shot himself in the hand and suffered a wounded and infected leg. Kerrish was hospitalised for treatment of his hand and was discharged from hospital on the 3rd of February 1918. Kerrish re-joined his Battalion, and, between the 3rd and the 8th of February 1918, the 3rd and 10th Battalion were in the trenches while the enemies were active. After 5 days in the field Kerrish returned to hospital sick and with complaints about his existing hand injury. On the 24th of February Kerrish was discharged from the hospital and re-joined his Battalion.

On the 22nd of April 1918 a trial regarding Kerrish’s self-inflicted wounds was held in the field by the Field General Court Marshall. The charge was: when on active service - when neglect to the prejudice - self-inflicted wound section - 40.a.a. Kerrish pleaded not guilty but was found guilty. On the 21st of May 1918 he was then sentenced to 28 days forfeiture of pay.

On the 8th of December 1918 Kerrish was transferred to a casualty clearing station with influenza. The influenza continued until the 22nd of January 1919. During this time Kerrish was transferred to 7 different hospitals before he returned to duty. The troops were demobilising according to the orders written on February 14th, 1919. The demobilising process was a long one as the last person returned home in September 1919. Kerrish embarked for Australia on the 1st of April. On the 4th of April, however, he was admitted to the ship’s hospital with bronchitis where he remained until the 22nd of April. On the 13th of May 1919 Kerrish returned to Adelaide. On the 18th of June Kerrish was discharged from service as he was found to be medically unfit.

On the 2nd of November 1929 Kerrish married Eileen Catherine Skinner at Maughn Church in Adelaide.

On the 12th of December 1936 Kerrish contacted Base Records about his lost discharge papers. In the letter he states that he is unsure of the location of his discharge papers they could potentially be at home or thrown away with other papers. On the 8th of January 1937 Kerrish submitted his stationary declaration paperwork regarding his lost discharge papers. This paperwork was sent to the Commissioner of declaration. Kerrish claimed two medals for his services: the British war medal and the Victory medal. Kerrish died on the 3rd of May 1978 as a father to Peter and Kay and was buried at Enfield Memorial Park.