MEADOWCROFT, Frank
| Service Numbers: | 2392, 2392A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 September 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 30th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, 1891 |
| Home Town: | Newcastle, Hunter Region, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bridge Builder's Assistant, Railway Permanent Way Branch |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 December 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Bethleem Farm West Cemetery, Belgium F 14, Bethleem Farm West Cemetery, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Cook's Hill Superior Public School , Cooks Hill St John's Honor Roll, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2392, 30th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 2392, 30th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 2392, 30th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Orsova, Sydney | |
| 7 Dec 1917: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 2392A, 30th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2392A awm_unit: 30th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-12-07 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of James and Bella MEADOWCROFT
FRITZ ON THE RUN.
Private Frank Meadowcroft, writing on April 2nd, to his brother, Mr. Louis Meadowcroft, of Newcastle, says:- "I am still in the best of health. We have advanced miles lately, and we took a big town. I suppose you know all about it by this. We have got Fritz on the run, but he is destroying everything as he goes back, burning villages and damages everything. It will be a god-send when this war is over. We are adopting a new style of warfare, a more open kind, more of the style used in the Boer War."
KILLED IN ACTION.
PRIVATE F. MEADOWCROFT.--Mr. L. Meadowcroft, of Newcastle, has been notified 'that his brother, Private Frank Meadowcroft, was killed in action on the western front on December 7th. The late Private Meadowcroft was 26 years of age, and prior to enlisting was employed in the railway. He left Australia for the front a year and nine months ago.
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Frank MEADOWCROFT (Service Number 2392A) was born in Newcastle in 1892. He is known to have been employed by the Railways in 1914 as a boilermakers’ labourer at the Honeysuckle Point workshops. When he enlisted in the AIF, in Newcastle in September 1915, he stated his ‘trade or calling’ as ‘Bridge Builders’ Assistant’.
He was allotted to the 4th Reinforcements for the 30th Battalion. He left from Sydney for the war in March 1916. He left Egypt and landed in France in June. He was ‘taken on strength’ by his Battalion in August 1916. In April 1917 he wrote to his brother in Newcastle:
‘We have got Fritz on the run, but he is destroying everything as he goes back, burning villages and damages everything. It will be a god-send when this war is over…’
In July 1917 he was treated in hospital for eye trouble and spent three weeks on base duties before re-joining to his unit in August 1917. He was appointed Lance Corporal in October. He had three weeks leave in the United Kingdom in October-November.
On 7th December 1917 he was killed in action. He was buried in Bethleem Farm West Military Cemetery, ½ mile SE of Messines, Belgium.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.