ADAMS, Frank Patrick
| Service Number: | 4352 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 December 1915, Enlisted at Sydney |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 19th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Campersown, New South Wales, Australia, 1895 |
| Home Town: | Annandale, Leichhardt, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | St Fiacre School, Leichhardt, New Sputh Wales |
| Occupation: | Engineer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Somme, near Delville Wood, France, 23 December 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" No known grave. Burial information suggests that he and four friends were killed by the same shell and were buried together but following battles destroyed the gravesite, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Annandale War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4352, 19th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Sydney | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4352, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4352, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Nestor, Sydney |
Help us honour Frank Patrick Adams's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Patrick Francis Adams and Augustus Adams
Prior to enlisted he had been employed by A.J. Rowlinson for five years
Parts of burial reports taken from the Red Cross missing files from eye witnesses:-
Statement, Red Cross File No 00204028, 4487 Pte D. McEwen, A Company, 19th Bn, 24 February 1917: 'He was killed in Needle Trench, the other side of Delville Wood, on 23rd. Dec. while we were in reserves. A shell got five of us, he amongst the five. I saw his dead body. The bodies were buried together afterwards, back of the parados. He had been on guard just previously at the Dump, and was brought into the trench with the others because of the heavy shelling.'
Second statement, 4356 Pte R.G. ASHTON, A Company, 19th Bn (patient, 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, England), 5 March 1917: 'I came over from Sydney with him. He was a great friend of mine and got him to join my platoon. I saw him killed at Needle Trench on the Somme. I thought it was the 22nd of Dec. not the 23rd. He was buried the same day he was killed and has a cross on his grave with name and No.'
Third statement, 4497 Pte E.J. NAUGHTON, 19th Bn, 12 March 1917: 'I knew him. He was killed by a shell in Needle Trench, Flers front. He was buried in a little burying ground behind the dugout. Four men who were standing together were killed by this shell and the four of them were buried together.'
Fourth statement, 4507 Pte O.M. PETERSON, 19th Bn (patient, 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, England), 8 March 1917: 'This man was killed by a shell in the support trenches near Fleur [sic] on the right of Delville Wood. I saw a 59 shell catch this man and three of his companions, as they were going for their rations. I saw the four men brought in dead. I did not see him buried, but I saw the grave where he and three others were buried in the trenches.'
Medals: British War Medal, Vcitory Medal