Francis Turner

Submitted by Mt Kembla Minin... on Mon, 17/10/2016 - 11:59

First Name:

Francis

Last Name:

Turner

Mother's Name:

Jane Turner nee Collins

Father's Name:

William Turner

Date Enlisted:

Wednesday, June 14, 1916

Rank at Enlistment:

Private

Rank at Discharge:

Private

Unit:

45th Battalion

Service:

Infantry

Awards:

British War Medal

Victory Medal

Date of Death:

Saturday, October 2, 1965

Place of Death:

Wollongong, N.S.W.

Details:

Francis Turner (Service No 2738) was born in Newcastle, N.S.W., in 1898.

When he enlisted at Kiama, N.S.W, he was single, 18 years old, worked as a wheeler and lived in Scarborough, N.S.W.

Francis had served 12 months with 37th Infantry, B Company . He embarked on HMAT A40 Ceramic, with 45th Battalion, 6th Reinforcement, on 7th October 1916. He arrived in England, on 21st November 1916, and joined 45th Battalion, in France, on 18th January 1917.

Francis served on the Western Front, with 45th Battalion, and took part in the Battle of Messines and the Battle of Passchendaele, in 1917.

In 1918, the 45th Battalion took part in the August Offensive, which began on 8th August, at Amiens, France. Francis was wounded in action on this day and was evacuated to hospital in England, with concussion, on 30th August 1918.

He was diagnosed with shell shock and returned to Australia, in November 1918. Francis was discharged medically unfit, on 28th February 1919.

In 1919, he married Edith Beaumont, in Wollongong, N.S.W.

Francis died in 1965, and is buried in Wollongong Cemetery.

Sources:

NAA: B2455, TURNER F