Francis James Williams (1891 - 1916)

Born 1891 in Windeyer, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Died 19 Jul 1916 at about age 25 in German Field Hospital, Fromelles, Nord, France

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Biography

Francis was born in 1892. He is the son of George Williams and Fanny Johnson.

Francis joined the AIF when he was 23 years old. He was a miner from NSW. He enlisted at Lithgow, NSW. He embarked from Sydney for Egypt. On his arrival in the Middle East he was assigned to the 10th and 11th Reinforcements, 4 Battalion. They made the brief journey across the Dardanelles in September to the cliffs of Gallipoli where the Australians held fast in the trenches of Lone Pine for 10 weeks. The Australians withdrew on the night of December the 17th. The AIF returned to Alexandria.

On February 16th, 1916 they were regrouped into the 53rd Battalion and embarked to Marseilles, France. Francis joined the front line at Fromelles. Despite the heroic efforts of the Australians they suffered a high loss of life. On the 19th of July they were held down under heavy fire and suffered heavy casualties. They were ordered to withdraw, the need for a hasty withdrawal forced the 53rd Battalion to leave fallen comrades behind. Francis Williams was amongst them. He was reported as missing in action but was believed to have died from wounds suffered in the Battle of Fromelles. In October 1919 German records showed he had been taken prisoner and sent to a German field hospital but his wounds were so severe he was unable to be saved with medical treatment and died on the 19th of July 1916.

• Service Number : 3605
• Units Served " 10th & 11th Reinforcements 4 Battalion, 53rd Battalion.
• Date of Enlistment : 4th August 1915.

Sources

• Ancestry.com
• Australia, World War 1 Service Records, 1914-1920

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=WILL&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GScntry=7&GSsr=1321&GRid=55965339&

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 19 April 2021), memorial page for Pvt Francis James Williams (1892–19 Jul 1916), Find a Grave Memorial no. 55965339, citing V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, Departement du Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France ; Maintained by Digger (contributor 50072026) .