Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Frank was the son of Richard Ryce HEALEY & Margaret Winifred BAILEY and was born on the 21st of August 1889 in Murray Bridge, SA.

His parents were married on the 25th of July 1878 in Balranald, NSW.

His father was the son of Michael HEALEY & Janet HOOD and was born in 1855 in Pt Wakefield, SA.
His mother was the daughter of Richard BAILEY & Mary GILMORE and was born in 1855 in Geelong, VIC.

Frank was the seventh child born into the family of 9 children.

His father was a labourer and the family had fist lived at Paika Lake, Balranald before Frank was born.

By 1900 it appears that his father had deserted the family and moved to Queensland.

Frank and his siblings attended the Kaniva School and on leaving school he gained employment as a labourer and joined the Kaniva Rifle Club.

His brother Norman enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 25th of August 1914 (428) and embarked from Melbourne on board Transport A24 Benalla on the 19th of October 1914.

At the age of 27, Frank enlisted in the 1st AIF on the 26th of October 1916 in Melbourne and was allotted the service number 2816 and posted to the Reserves in Seymour. He was the transferred to the 38th Battalion, 6th Reinforcements and embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A7 Medic on the 16th of December 1916.

He served in France and Belgium and then embarked from England on the 27th of May 1919 on board HMAT Rio Pardo, disembarking in Adelaide on the 18th of July.

Frank return to Kaniva where a welcome home social was tendered to him in the Kaniva Mechanics Institute on Wednesday the 23rd of July.

Frank was discharged from the AIF on the 28th of August 1918.

Frank married Daisy Charlotte BELL in 1924 in Victoria
Daisy was the daughter of Randolph Thomas BELL & Mary Ann SEALEY and was born on the 21st of September 1889 in Musk Vale, VIC.

They made their home in Moore Street, Kaniva and Frank’s grandmother Janet HEALEY was living with them when she died at their home on the 17th of March 1925.

They welcomed their first child; Capel Murray, on the 7th of December 1925.

Frank enjoyed breeding racehorses and became a horse trainer with several successful horses.

In the late 1930’s he moved to Naracoorte to train his horses, but Daisy & Capel moved to Sailors Falls, Daylesford, Vic.

With the outbreak of WW2 their son Capel enlisted into the RAAF on the 23rd of December 1943 (146141).

Frank then moved to Helen Street, Mt Gambier.

Frank died in the Mt Gambier Hospital on the 2nd of July 1947 and he was buried 2 days later in the Lake Terrace Cemetery, Mt Gambier; Section K, Plot 399.

Daisy died on the 21st of November 1973 in Bacchus Marsh, VIC.

Military

At the age of 27, Frank enlisted in the 1st AIF on the 26th of October 1916 in Melbourne and was allotted the service number 2816 and posted to the Reserves in Seymour.
He listed his mother, of Kaniva, VIC, as his next of kin.

On the 9th of November he was transferred to the 38th Battalion, 6th Reinforcements.

Frank embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A7 Medic on the 16th of December 1916, disembarked in Plymouth on the 18th of January and marched into the 14th Training Battalion in Hurdcott.

He was then posted to No.1 Command Depot in Perham Downs before being posted to the 10th Training Battalion.
On the 28th of April he was transferred to the newly formed 66th Battalion at Windmill Hill, Andover.
The 66th Battalion was formed on the 25th of April 1917 as part of the 17th Infantry Brigade, 6th Division.

After completing nearly 5 months of training the Battalion was disbanded on the 16th of September and Frank proceed to France 3 days later.
He was then taken on strength with the 38th Battalion at Winnizeele on the 30th of September.
They then moved to the right of Ypres & Zonnebeke road on the 2nd of October and at 9:45pm on the 3rd of they began their approach marched for the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge.
At 2am on the 4th of October they began moving forward and were shelled heavily on their start line and they suffered casualties even before the attack began. When the attack began they were confronted by a line of enemy troops advancing towards them; the Germans had chosen the same morning to launch an attack of their own. Frank and the 38th Battalion forged on through the German assault waves and gained all their objectives along the ridge. However they still suffered 29% casualties.

By the 10th they were bivouacked in an area near Hussar Farm and the following night they began their march to Passchendaele and formed up on the jump off tape at 3am.
The first attack on Passchendaele was a disaster, executed in haste amidst horrendous conditions brought on by torrential rain. They suffered 62% casualties here and it would be their most costly operation of the war.
They moved by motor bus to Senlecques on the 15th of October and remained here for the next 4 weeks resting and recovering.
On the 11th of November they moved to Noote Boom and then Hollebeque Farm Camp and then relieved the Sherwood Forresters at Warneton for 10 days.

They remained in this section in and out of the front line until they moved to Aldershot Camp on the 15th of December for 5 days and then to Hollebeque Farm, where they spent Christmas 1917.
Here they carried out cable burying & training until they went back into the front line in the Warneton sector on the 27th of January 1918 and spent all of February here, in and out of the front line.

In late March they were rushed south to France to meet the German Army's Spring Offensive and by the 29th of March they were located in the trenches at Marret Wood, near Mericiurt-Treux.
On the 4th of April they were relieved and moved to billets in Ribemont before moving back into the front line at Buire-Treux and then by the end of April they were in reserve at Ribemont.

For the next 3 months they continued in and out of the front line and on the 5th of August Frank gained 2 weeks leave to England and fortunately missed the launch of the allied offensive on the 8th of August and his Battalion’s in an ill-conceived attack that failed to capture the village of Proyart on the 10th of August.

When Frank returned to his Battalion they had moved into the Somme Valley and were in the Tincourt-Boucly sector. They then marched 3 miles to Roisel and were involved in the front line fighting.
They then participated in their last major action of the war between the 29th of September and the 2nd of October 1918 as part of the Australian-American operation that breached the formidable defences of the Hindenburg Line along the St Quentin Canal.

When the Armistice was signed on the 11th of November they were located in their billets in Sorel, conducting training.
They then moved to Vismes where Frank suffered from Laryngitis on the 20th of December and spent Christmas 1918 in the 10th Australian Field Ambulance at Toeufles before rejoining his Battalion on the 27th.

January was spent here in training, parades and sports & educational programs.
These outdoor events however began to wain in February as the weather turned bitterly cold and snowstorms were frequent.
They then moved to Bouillancourt in March and on the 9th of April Frank marched out to the Australian Base Depot in Le Havre as part of Quota 29, for return to England.
He embarked for England 5 days later and marched into Codford Camp.

Frank embarked from England on the 27th of May 1919 on board HMAT Rio Pardo, disembarking in Adelaide on the 18th of July.

Frank was discharged from the AIF on the 28th of August 1918 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.