Francis Ernest Funnell

First Name: 
Francis
Middle Name: 
Ernest
Last Name: 
Funnell
Mother's Name: 
Elizabeth Funnell (nee Winter)
Father's Name: 
Thomas Funnell
Date Enlisted: 
Wednesday, October 27, 1915
Rank at Enlistment: 
Private
Rank at Discharge: 
Private
Unit: 
19th Battalion
Company: 
B
Service: 
Infantry
Awards: 
British War Medal
Victory Medal
Date of Death: 
Sunday, April 7, 1918
Place of Death: 
Hangard Wood, France
Cause of Death: 
Killed in action
Details: 

Francis Funnell (Service No 3804) was born in Goulburn, N.S.W. around 1887.

Francis enlisted when he was 27 years old.  He was single, worked as a bootmaker, and lived in Wollongong, N.S.W.

Francis embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A54 Runic with 9th Reinforcements, 19th Battalion, on 20th January 1916 and arrived in Egypt on 27th March 1916.

After arriving in France on 5th April 1916 Francis became ill and was admitted to hospital on 11th May 1916.  On 1st August 1916 he rejoined his unit in Belgium but was again hospitalised, in France and England, from 30th September 1916 until 19th March 1918.

On 7th April 1918, 6th Platoon, B Company, 19th Battalion was fighting in Hangard Wood, France.  During the advance, Francis Funnell was seen to fall after being hit by machine gun bullets.  He was initially reported missing, but it was later established, from eye witness accounts, that Francis had been killed in the battle, and that he had been "unofficially buried in open Morlancourt, solitary grave near Village".

Francis is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneaux, France.

Sources: 
NAA: B2455, FUNNELL F E