TARRANT, Onward Francis
| Service Number: | 987 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 May 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bowden, Adelaide, South Australia, 18 February 1886 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Engine Driver |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 5 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 987, 28th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 987, 28th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 987, 28th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Fremantle |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School
Son of Edmund James Tarrant and Mary Selina Page of 17th Bowden Street Adelaide was born on the 18th of February 1886. He was a single, 29-year-old male who worked as a locomotive engine driver before he enlisted on the 5th of May 1915. Tarrant was ranked as a Private and assigned to the 7th Brigade of the 28th Battalion. His service number was 987 and he began the war with some military experience . On the 8th of June 1916, he signed an oath to serve his his country.
At the time he was considered a tall man with a recorded height of 5’8” tall or 172cm. He had a dark complexion with grey eyes and dark hair.
His life before the war was filled with sports. Some of the sports he was most confident and constant in, were; cricket, rifle shooting, and Subiaco. He also played League Football which made him a very familiar face in the coummunity. Sport wasn’t the only reason towards why he was well known. Onward had worked for years at the Railway Station of Adelaide. At the age of 29 years and 3 months, Onward Francis Tarrant joined the war.
During his time at war, he was discharged back to Australia due to venereal disease. He had picked up this STI whilst fighting for Australia along with 60,000 other soldiers who were affected by the same disease. He was on a medical discharge to return to Australia in a hospital after shortly being hospitalized at Broadmeadows in Victoria. It was known that an isolation ward was made in the hospital due to the number of soldiers that contained the venereal disease. There was no recorded time after his second discharge to Lang Warren, Victoria, where he was re-admitted on the 22nd of May 1916. Then later transferred back to Broadmeadows until the 31st of the 8th 1917.
After his last transfer on the 31st of August 1917, he received his final discharge due to being medically unfit. This was because he had developed chronic rheumatism and chronic gonorrhea (STI) and arthritis. His medical certificate was approved on April 29th, 1915, and developed a family within his time after the war before he died on the 15th of July 1936. Age 50.
Onward had met and married a woman and had 4 children. His wife’s name was Mrs. Lillian Tarrant, and they named their children Page, Lesley, Quita and Frank.
After his sad death which his friends and family mourned, he had a late funeral and was buried in the Karrakatta cemetery and crematorium in Karrakatta Nedlands city Western Australia. To this day many people remember the name Onward Francis Tarrant and honor his service for Australia.
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