Can you help us identify Frank?

Frank Woodcock was killed in the battle of Fromelles and his body was not identified. However, even over 100 years later there still is a chance.

Based on the reports of his death, it seems that Frank had been killed as the 29th Battalion were retreating on 20 July. If so, he was probably close to the Australian lines and his body might have been recovered.

A report by Corporal Webster provided long after the battle describes, in some detail, where and when Frank and eight other soldiers may have been buried.

The sap (a short covered trench / tunnel) is probably on the Mine Ave end of the trench (marked in blue in the map below) near where the “water farm” is marked.

There are also similar notes in these soldiers’ AIF files that they are buried at Fleurbaix, and a general map reference, sheet 36, with the exception being Private Robert Gill who died at the casualty clearing station and is buried at the Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension.

It would have been chaos in the trenches during the battle and in the immediate aftermath, and it is no wonder records of deaths and burials are often non-existent or contradictory. There are no records of these soldiers being found in this vicinity.

However, in 2008 a burial ground was located at Pheasant Wood behind the old German front line at Fromelles that contained the bodies of 250 British and Australian soldiers. Many of their identities, were confirmed through a combination of anthropological, archaeological, historical and DNA techniques.

To date (2023), DNA testing has been able to identify 177 of these 250 soldiers.

Despite being identified as being buried in the sap, four of these nine men - Ernest Wilkin, Frederick Parry, Samuel Farlow and Norman Brumm – were identified in 2010 as being buried in the Pheasant Wood Cemetery, some 2 km away! Was the original grave disturbed by shelling or otherwise re-opened necessitating re-burial by the Germans?

With four already identified, are the remaining four (Herbert Westmoreland, Francis Woodcock, Lemuel Batey and James Higgins) still amongst those soldiers now buried at the Pheasant Wood cemetery but unidentified?

We need to find Frank’s family members who could provide the DNA required to finally find Frank.

Francis Stringer “Frank” Woodcock was born in 1895 in Normanton, Yorkshire, England to Sam and Mary Woodcock. They had six children:

As Frank was growing up, the family stayed local to the area and lived in Rotherham and Barnsley. But, in 1913, at the age of 17, his family migrated to Australia, settling in West Coburg (Melbourne). Frank’s father Sam was a watchmaker and began working for Dunklings the Jewellers. Frank listed his occupation as a watchmaker on his attestation papers and no doubt worked with his father.

Mary and Sam were well settled into Australian life and were active in their local community. They eventually built a five-bedroom home at 295 Moreland Road, West Coburg. Samuel would go on to own his own watchmaking and repair business in the city at the corner of Little Collins and Elizabeth Street, handing it down to his son John. Mary became involved in the West Coburg Progress Association.

Prior to enlisting, Frank became engaged to Edith Maud Kellow, a local girl from East Brunswick, but they did not marry before he left. She entered memorial notices for Frank for a number of years after his death. She eventually married in 1927 and had three children.

Frank was initially rejected when he tried to enlist due to “deficient height”, he was 5’ 4 ½” tall. He also had a large scar on his body that may have been the result of surgery or an accident. The minimum requirements to enlist were changed in June 1915 and Frank successfully joined on 8 July 1915. He was assigned to the 29th Battalion and did his training in the Seymour and Broadmeadows Camps. He was assigned to be a signaller, responsible for ensuring communications were able to be made across the battlefield. Signallers had to be proficient in Morse code signaling on flag, lamp and heliograph and proficient at map reading. As needed, they would run the messages to and from the front lines.

Before departing for Egypt on 10 November 1915 on the A11 Ascanius, , the soldiers had been on parade in Melbourne in front of a good crowd. The Minister for Defence, H.F. Pearce reviewed the troops and said:

After a month’s voyage, they arrived in Suez, Egypt on 7 December. His time in Egypt included further training and defence of the Suez Canal with postings at Ismailia, Tel el Kebir, Ferry Post and Moascar. The troops were reviewed by the Prince of Wales while in Tel el Kebir.

The call to the Western Front came and on 16 June the 29th boarded the troopship Tunisian in Alexandria, headed to Marseilles and arriving there on the 23rd. The soldiers were then taken by train from the southernmost part of France to the north to Hazebrouck. They went on to Steenbeque and by the 26th were encamped in Morbeque, about 30 km from Fleurbaix.

The Aussies were well received by the French. In a letter home, James Lang (858), 29th Battalion from Glengarry, Victoria, wrote:

On 1 July the 29th moved back to Hazebrouck. Gas masks were now included in their training for the possible use of “lachrymatory shells” – tear gas. Training was tough and rugged. One day included a march of 16 miles carrying a 75 lb kit, which only the youngest and fittest could complete. On July 9th they then moved to Erquingham, just outside of Fleurbaix and on the 10th they got their first experience in the front-line trenches. They were back at their billets in Fleurbaix on the 14th. A gas alarm was sounded on the 15th, but there was no effect on the troops in Fleurbaix.

The 29th’s role was to be a ‘fourth’ battalion on the left flank of the attack. With the 30th, they were to provide support for the attacking 31st and 32nd Battalions by digging trenches, carrying supplies/ammunition and to be called in as reserves if needed for the fighting. The original attack was planned for 17 July, but bad weather caused it to be postponed.

On 19 July the 29th were in the rear trenches, poised for the attack. The 32nd’s charge over the parapet began at 5:53 PM and the 31st’s at 5:58 PM. There were machine guns emplacements to their left and directly ahead at Delrangre Farm and there was heavy artillery fire in No-Man’s-Land. The initial assaults were successful and by 6:30 PM the Aussies were in control of the German’s 1st line system, which was described as

“practically a ditch with from 1 to 2 feet of mud and slush at the bottom”. Source AWM4 23/49/12, 32nd Battalion War Diaries, July 1916, page 11

By 8:00 PM, Frank’s D Company and A Company began to carry bombs and supplies to the front trenches, so they were now well engaged in the battle. While Signaller Frank was not directly “fighting”, being a signaller was dangerous work. They were exposed to the same danger from enemy snipers and artillery when they delivered messages manually and/or running and repairing telephone lines. Manual signalling was vital when the army moved too quickly to establish a telephone network and they had to personally run the messages to and from the trenches. As the battle wore on, the Australians’ left flank had come under heavy bombardment with high explosives and shrapnel.

Return bombardment support was provided and the soldiers of the 32nd were told:

At 10:00 PM, additional support was being requested and C and D Companies joined in. Unfortunately, they found that a number of the grenades they were carrying had no fuses. The Germans counter attacked and at 2:00 AM and Frank’s D Company was further drawn into the fighting. B and C Companies were also engaged, continuing to carry supplies and providing cover for soldiers who were retiring from the battle. At 4:00 AM the Germans began an attack from the Australian’s left flank, bombing and advancing into the Australian’s communications trench. Given the Australian advances that had been made earlier, portions of the rearward trench had been left almost empty, which enabled the Germans to be in a position to surround the advanced soldiers.

As the Australian attack had been halted, they became exposed in a salient jutting into the German lines and were quickly enfiladed by German machine guns: