Francis Mawson

First Name: 
Francis (Frank)
Last Name: 
Mawson
Alternate Spelling: 
Frank Mawson
Date of Birth: 
Sunday, September 20, 1896
Mother's Name: 
Emily Louisa Mawson (nee Messer)
Father's Name: 
Francis Jonah Mawson
Date Enlisted: 
Sunday, August 22, 1915
Rank at Enlistment: 
Private
Rank at Discharge: 
Private
Unit: 
17th Battalion 9th Reinforcements
Company: 
B Company
Service: 
Infantry
Awards: 
British War Medal
Victory Medal
1914/15 Star NE
Date of Death: 
Thursday, August 1, 1957
Place of Death: 
Western Suburbs Hospital Croydon
Cause of Death: 
Hit by a car when stepping off a bus: fractured skull & chemical meningitis.
Details: 

Frank Mawson (Service No 3896) was born in Helensburgh in 1896 to Francis Jonah Mawson, a miner from Auckland, New Zealand, and Emily Louisa (nee Messer) from Penrith.

Frank attended Helensburgh school with his siblings, Emily, Christina, Dorothy (Doris) and Henry. At the same school were his cousins John and Gladys Mawson as well as Will, Thomas and Francis Hunt.

Frank enlisted at Holsworthy NSW on 22 August, 1915, at the age of 19, although Army documents show his age to be 21. He joined the 17th Battalion 9th Reinforcements and embarked on the HMAT Runic on 20 January, 1916.

Frank was in Pozieres at the same time as William Henry Hunt, also from Helensburgh.  He arrived back in Sydney on 28 September, 1917; his parents at this time had moved to Concord West and he was discharged on 2 March 1918.

Frank and Alice Beryl Doran (nee Ridgers) from Tasmania married on 4 March 1918 and at the time he worked as a railway signalman. He and Alice had 5 children. In 1939 Frank enlisted in WWII, with his sons also enlisting in 1941 & 1942.

Sources: 
NAA: B2455; MAWSON FRANK 3896