Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Frank was born in Naracoorte just prior to Christmas on the 15th December 1910 to Charles Sharman and Frances Jane Thredgold of Kingston. Frank had two younger sisters, Susan and Pat. Initially Frank lived at Reedy Creek, where, as a five-year-old he was part of a concert in aid of the Red Cross funds, performing the traditional ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ song, then the following year turning his skills to knitting a pair of socks, no mean feat for a six-year-old. He soon moved to live with his aunt in Torrensville and joined the young people’s ‘Mail Club’ where he submitted a chapter of an ongoing story about a shipwrecked group entitle ‘Saved from Death’. Frank had lived with his father’s sister initially at Naracoorte but then in Adelaide where Frank worked as a clerk with Messrs. Goode, Durrant and Company, warehousemen.
Aged 25, Frank enlisted early in the declaration of war on the 20th October ’36, having the number SX127 allocated to him, initially in the 2/10th Battalion, then briefly with the 2/43rd before finally in September ’40 becoming part of the newly formed 2/48th Battalion with the rank of Lieutenant. He had brief pre-embarkation leave before returning to the 2/48th Battalion which then embarked on the Stratheden for the Middle East, on the 7th November 1940, arriving on the 19th December 1940 where the troops completed a few months training in Cyrenaica. However, Frank did have leave in Cairo in February ’41 then almost immediately attended courses in Chemical Warfare and Mechanical Engineering but re-joined the 2/48th in February ’42.
The 2/48th Battalion was soon involved in intense conflicts where the reputation for being the most highly decorated but decimated battalion was earned.
The diaries of Ivor Paech OAM, an ex-schoolteacher who served in WWII, have re-told the story of those in the 2/48th Battalion through Adelaide to Alamein. Ivor was a close friend of Frank’s with the two heading out from Julius Camp to do some sightseeing in November ’41. Ivor wrote ‘Went to Tel Aviv and was accompanied by Captain Col Williams, Lieutenant Frank Thredgold and Lieutenant Arthur Brocksopp who were returning the same night.’
Within eight months Ivor was to record a time that affected him deeply. It was the 22nd July and Frank was 31.
‘At only 18 years of age, nothing could have prepared Private Bill McEvoy for what was happening around him on the slopes of West Point 24. With only a small camel bush for cover he was pinned down 50 yards short of an enemy machine gun with the few survivors of his company. In the space of a few minutes, virtually everyone he had known since he joined the 2/48th Battalion 13 months earlier had either been killed or wounded. He recalls seeing Lieutenant Frank Thredgold OC of 10 Platoon, shot through the stomach and then through the head as he tried to get up and move to Lieutenant Lance Heffron’s position to coordinate their attack. Lieutenant Heffron, OC of 11 Platoon, moved towards his dead mate Frank to retrieve the Very pistol he was carrying but was also killed by a burst of machine gun fire.”
The 2/48th Battalion was attempting to capture West Point in a dawn attack. In late June, 42 with Rommel crossing into Egypt, the 2/48th were in an offensive to capture Trig 33, which was achieved on the 10th July. In doing so, over 400 Italian prisoners were taken. The 2/48th battalion then advanced south, capturing the Tel el Eisa station and repelling numerous counter attacks. However, they were eventually forced to withdraw, having suffered over 100 casualties. It was during this attack that Private Stan Gurney was awarded the 2/48th Battalion’s first VC having captured two machine gun posts and bayonetting the gun crew firing on his company but was killed attempting to take a third. The 2/48th battalion suffered 215 casualties between the 7th July and 23rd October. Of that number, 64 men were killed and six, died of their wounds. 125 other men were wounded but survived.
In his book, ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’, John G. Glenn described the ferocious encounter;
‘When the troops were well forward of the start-line they came under terrific fire from shells and mortars from the front and left and suffered heavy casualties. With the slow deliberate movement of perfectly trained soldiers both companies continued the advance in perfect formation, over ground that trembled and erupted with vicious explosions. Through this, sometimes obscured by the smoke and dust, the men moved, and, as they advanced, the fire kept place with them, leaving behind the still shapes of fallen men among the camel bush and sand.’
John Glenn added that ‘Lieutenant Frank Thredgold having fallen while going to the aid of Private Evans’ was killed.
In his entry for Wed 22 June 1842, Ivor in Adelaide to Alamein observed that ‘The attack didn’t succeed, and we lost many of the best men, including Col William, Lance Heffron and Frank Thredgold. Dick LeMessurier and Os Gooden were wounded. It was a very sad day for our battalion.’ ‘The heavy loss of the July fighting had shocked and affected him deeply. Being an original member of the 2/48th Battalion and a former NCO, he personally knew most of the men who had been killed and wounded, particularly the officers and senior NCOs. While he accepted the necessity of the fighting without question, he found the heavy loss of life for the scant gains troubling. It all seemed so futile and many of his close friends such as Col Williams, Frank Thredgold and Tas Gill were now dead, buried beneath the desert sands. He added ‘Young men had been killed and maimed fighting for small hills in the desert which had little value to anyone except the military. Ivor had begun smoking heavily and the strain was slowly taking its toll on him. He was 34 years old now, and most of the young soldiers seemed not much older that his former school students.’
Back home, the news of Frank’s death was reported in the local Naracoorte Herald but the details were initially vague that he was killed ‘somewhere in the Middle East’. By August 7th the paper had more detail to report. ‘As reported in our last issue, Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Thredgold, of Kingston, the parents of Lieut. Frank Thredgold, have been advised that he was killed in action in the Middle East. He was 32 years of. age, and enlisted in Adelaide early in the war, and some time afterwards left for overseas. He had lived from boyhood with his aunt, Miss S. Thredgold, at Narracoorte and Adelaide, and before enlisting he was attached to the staff of Messrs. Goode, Durrant and Co. warehousemen Adelaide. The deceased was a nephew of Mrs. A. Humphris, of Narracoorte.’
Frank was initially buried in the El Alamein British Cemetery but in April ’43 was re-interred in the El Alamein War Cemetery in Plot XVI Row B Grave 25 where his parents chose the inscription ‘Not today but every day in silence your parents remember you’ for his headstone. He now rests with 27-year-old Private SX8315 Ron Sunman, 24-year-old Private SX8259 Lindsay Earl, 27-year-old Private SX12765 Charles Corfield, 41-year-old Lance Cpl SX7801 Edward Smith and 23-year-old Private SX8302 Ron Clements from his 2/48th Battalion as well as others from the 2/2nd and 2/23rd.
When his parents died their headstones in the North Road Cemetery at Nailsworth also carried a tribute to their son Frank.
His extended family also remembered Frank in the ensuing years.
Advertiser Wednesday 5 August 1942, THREDGOLD.—Killed in action, Frank Bruce, beloved nephew of Sarah Althorpe, late of Torrensville, Cousin of Anne. Aged 32 years. THREDGOLD.—Killed in action Middle East, Lieut. Frank Bruce, loved nephew of Mr. and Mrs. J. Woodrow, Hendon, and of Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Harris, Glengowrie, Glenelg, cousin of Bett and Nan. THREDGOLD.—Killed in action Middle East, Lieut. Frank Bruce, beloved only son of Mr. and Mrs. C. Thredgold, Kingston, South-East, loved brother of Suse and Pat, nephew of Mrs. Althorpe, late Taylor's road, Torrensville. Aged 32 years. THREDGOLD.—Killed in action, Middle East. A tribute to the memory of our loved cousin, Lieut. Frank Bruce Thredgold. A man if ever there was one.—Inserted by Pat, Keith, Trenerry.
Narracoorte Herald Friday 23 July 1943, THREDGOLD.—In remembrance of our dear and only son and brother, - Lieut. Frank Bruce killed in action at Tel-el-Eissa, on July 22, 1942. Aged, 32 years. "Not just to-day, but every day in silence we remember you." —Inserted by father and mother, Susane, and Pat.

Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.