The AIF Project

Frank Llewellyn WILLIAMS

Regimental number6877
Place of birthSydney, New South Wales
SchoolCleveland Street High School, Sydney, New South Wales
ReligionMethodist
OccupationPlasterer
AddressPaddington, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation18
Height5' 2.5"
Weight107 lbs
Next of kinFather, Penry Llewellyn Williams, 202 Glenmore Road, Paddington, New South Wales
Previous military serviceServed in the Senior Cadets, Compulsory Military Training scheme; previously twice rejected for AIF enlistment on the grounds of being 'too small in the chest'.
Enlistment date4 May 1917
Place of enlistmentSydney, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name17th Battalion, 20th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/34/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A72 Beltana on 16 June 1917
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll17th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 15 May 1918
Place of death or woundingMorlancourt, France
Age at death from cemetery records19
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
84
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Penry Llewellyn and Mabel WILLIAMS, 202 Glenmore Road., Paddington, New South Wales
Family/military connectionsCousin: 619 Lance Corporal Charles Guest CAMPION, 4th Bn, killed in action, 15 April 1917.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 16 June 1917; found guilty, at sea, 1 August 1917, of being late on parade: awarded 24 hours' detention; disembarked Plymouth, England, 25 August 1917, and marched in same day to 5th Training Bn, Rollestone.

Found guilty, Rollestone, 18 September 1917, of conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline in that he urinated in the lines: awarded 7 days' confined to camp.

Proceeded overseas to France, 6 May 1918; taken on strength, 17th Bn, in the field, 10 May 1918.

Killed in action, 15 May 1918.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, WILLIAMS Frank Llewellyn

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