TURNER, Frederick Joseph
| Service Number: | 3328 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Rugby, South Australia , 5 April 1891 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Peter's College, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Traveller |
| Died: | Pulmonary Tuberculosis (war service related), Torrensville, South Australia, 13 August 1917, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
West Terrace Cemetery (General) Adelaide, South Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3328, 32nd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 3328, 32nd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Malakuta embarkation_ship_number: A57 public_note: '' | |
| 27 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 3328, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Malakuta, Adelaide |
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From the book Fallen Saints
Frederick Joseph Turner of Torrensville, South Australia was born at Payneham, South Australia in 1892 and attended St Peter’s College, Adelaide . Little is known about his early life other than prior to enlistment at the age of 24 he had been a commercial traveller selling his wares around the state. He enlisted in Adelaide on 14 December 1915 and so had no doubt about the risks associated with his decision to join the army at a time when the troops were evacuating the Gallipoli Peninsula and the AIF’s move to the Western Front was imminent.
3328 Private Turner was allotted to A Company, 2nd Depot Battalion at Mitcham Camp where during his initial infantry training he attended a signaller’s course.
On 16 April 1916 he was allotted to the 7th quota of Reinforcements for the 32nd Battalion and it was with them that on 27 June 1916 he embarked aboard HMAT Malakuta and sailed for England.
After disembarking at Davenport on 22 August 1916 he moved in to the camp at Larkhill for further training but on 25 September was admitted to Fargo Military Hospital suffering with what was initially diagnosed as gastritis but when it was discovered he actually had Pulmonary Tuberculosis he was returned to Australia aboard HMAT Wiltshire.
After disembarking from the ship at Melbourne, Victoria, Frederick boarded a special hospital train to Adelaide where on 18 April he was discharged medically unfit (Pul,TB); he died on 13 August 1917 at 26 years of age.
TURNER.-On the 13th August, at his aunt’s residence (Mrs. Sambell), Shipster-street, Torrernsville, Frederick Joseph Turner, aged 26 years A.I.F.[i]
TURNER.— The friends of the late Mr. FREDERICK.JOSEPH TURNER, late A.I.F. are respectfully notified that his Funeral will leave his aunt's Residence (Mrs. Sambel), Shipster street. Torrensville; on TUESDAY, at 3 p.m.. for the West Terrace Cemetery.[ii]
Sadly, Frederick was just one of the many men who returned home only to die early, or worse still live with and fight their war over again and again until succumbing to old age.
Those who lose their lives on a battlefield, as it should be are never forgotten, their names are cast in bronze or carved in stone, but the wounded, the mad, the lame, the blind, and the ill like Frederick and so many thousands of others are often remembered only by their immediate and or extended family.
[i] Family Notices. The Advertiser Adelaide, p. 4. 14 April 1917, viewed December 22, 2014,
[ii] Family Notices. The Register Adelaide, p. 2. 14 April 1917, viewed December 22, 2014
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