Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Although he was named Frank Rupert Lay, as a young man he called himself Rubert, rather than Rupert.  He was raised a Methodist.  As was the norm at the time, Frank left school at an early age, although in later life he was fluent reader and quick and accurate at arithmetic.  As a young man he was 1.68 m high, with a dark complexion, hazel eyes and thick black hair.  He initially worked as a boundary rider in Ballan.  Presumably as a consequence of this work, he was admitted to Ballarat Hospital on 20 November 1911, following bullet wounds to his left instep & left forefinger.

War was declared against Germany in August 1914.  The war would then have loomed large in Frank’s thoughts as his older brothers, Edward, Perce and Leonard had enlisted at the outbreak of war, although Leonard had been rejected due to rheumatic fever.  His younger brother Bert was too young to enlist, but for young Frank a decision was imminent.  In 1915 he took the first step and joined the Citizen Forces.

Whilst Frank was a member of the Citizen Forces, his brother Edward had been to the War, been seriously injured, married his English nurse, sired a son in London, and been shipped home in July 1917 as a 27 year-old veteran.  Brother Perce Lay was then a 25 year-old sergeant already achieving war hero status with a Military Medal and a Croix de Guerre (avec Palm Leaves) and was about to receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal for an attack on Polygon Wood, near Ypres in France.  The family in Ballan knew some of this through letters they had received from Perce and from Edward’s homecoming. 
In this climate the 20 year-old Frank enlisted in the 58th Battalion in Ballarat on 26 November 1917.  Edward had been 24 and Perce 22 when they enlisted.  He was appointed an infantry private, army number 3669, in the 10th Reinforcements of the 58th Battalion on 8 January 1918

After initial training at Broadmeadows, Frank embarked on the Ormonde in Melbourne on 6 March 1918 and disembarked at Suez on 4 April 1918 where for three weeks he was treated for measles in the Government Hospital.  On 30 April 1918 he then embarked on the Elleuga from Port Tewfik, arriving at Southampton on 15 May 1918.

 In England he was posted to Codford, Wiltshire, and the 14th Training Battalion.  By an interesting coincidence, Codford is only 20 km southwest of Frank’s grandparents’ – John and Emma’s – birthplace in the Vale of Pewsey   On 6 July 1918 he met his new sister-in-law Mabel – whom his elder brother Edward had met and married the previous year whilst convalescing in London – signing her autograph book. He presumably also met their first son, Verney, who was then five months old.  It would be another year before Edward would first see his new son.

After training for some months, Frank left England at Folkestone on 29 August 1918, landing at Le Havre in France on the 31st and joining the 58th Battalion on 6 September 1918.   

The Battalion entered its last major battle of the war on 26 September 1918. This operation was mounted by the 3rd and 5th Australian Divisions, in co-operation with American forces.  Its purpose was to break through the formidable German defences along the St Quentin Canal in the Argonne, north of Verdun.

Frank arrived in the war zone in time to take part in this final, major battle of the war.  According to C. W. Bean the 58th Battalion “had been fairly knocked up” in the days prior to 26 August.  They had then fought along the Somme from 30 August to 2 September and were resting in a “lull” when Frank joined them.

 By this time the German Army had been pushed back to the Hindenberg Line and the 58th Battalion was involved in the fighting to secure Peronne, le Catelet and Bellicourt.  The Battalion’s the final decisive fight for the Hindenburg Line occurred near le Catelet and Bellicourt.  Monash describes “a famous day’s fighting” on 29 September, with the Germans using gas shells.  It was the last significant battle before the War ended on 11 November 1918.  Frank was gassed during the battle and was left severely incapacitated and in a life-threatening condition.

 As a result of the gassing, Frank was too ill to travel far away from the battlefield and was billeted with a Belgian family who nursed him back to passable health.  After six months in Belgium he was still suffering from serious ear infections, but was returned to Southampton and then to Sutton Veny near Codford on 30/5/1919 .  Elder brother Perce had been at Codford in March of the same year. 

Frank returned to Australia, embarking on 23/7/1919 and arriving in Melbourne on 10/9/1919.  He was admitted to No 5 Australian General Hospital (St Kilda Rd) on 15/9/1919 with chronic otitis media (inner ear), a deflected nasal septum & coryza (nasal discharge).  On 4/10/1919 he was moved to No 11 Australian General Hospital for an operation to address the problems.  Nevertheless, as a consequence of the gassing, Frank was discharged as medically unfit on 21/2/1920.  He received the British War Medal (#72629) and the Victory Medal (#69066) (Fig. 11).  His is one of three Lay names on Ballan War Memorial (Fig. 12).