Contributed by Ron Inglis, October 2021:
Fourteen days after the declaration of war, the Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) was assembled with the aim of seizing German colonies and silencing German wireless stations in the Pacific. The force was loaded onto the Berrima, now a merchant cruiser carrying four 4.7 guns, at Sydney’s Cockatoo Island. The ship set sail on 19 August 1914.
Milk vendor Frank Wilson was one of three Auburn Memorial men on board the Berrima. All three served as privates, returned safely and were honourably discharged. They then proceeded to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).
Frank Wilson, age 24, born in Wollongong, NSW, had been a ward of the state, cared for by Mary Powell since he was nine and a half years of age. Mary had died in 1904, so his only known relative was his foster sister, Miss Marcia Lillian Powell of 120 Harrow Road, Auburn. When he enlisted in the AIF, at Holsworthy on 6 October 1915, Frank nominated Marcia as his next-of-kin.
Frank was seven months in Australian Training Depots as an instructor before he embarked on the Beltana on 15 May 1916. During this time he was regularly promoted up to Sergeant. Arriving in Devonport, United Kingdom, Sergeant Wilson was posted to the 3rd Australian Division that was being raised at the Lark Hill Barracks on the Salisbury Plains of England. In November 1916, the 3rd Australian Division crossed to France and took up positions in the line in Flanders. Frank was promoted again, this time to CSM Warrant Officer Class II.
Warrant Officer Class II Wilson survived the Battle of Messines Ridge, the 3rd Australian Division’s first battle on the Western Front in June 1917. During this month he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant. One month later, on 21 July 1917, Lt Wilson was killed in a trench raid. The report from the CO of the 33rd Battalion says: ‘2nd Lt Wilson was one of a Raiding Party who was killed by gunshot wound whilst in the enemy trenches. His body was left in the enemy lines and was buried by them.’
By tragic coincidence, Frank Wilson’s unrelated namesake on the Auburn War Memorial, Private Robert Leslie Wilson, also 24, was also in the 3rd Australian Division. He too perished in Belgium, two months before Lieutenant Wilson. The grave of Frank Wilson was never found, therefore his name is inscribed on the Menin Gate in Ypres (Wipers) (now Ieper).
See: 'Family notices', The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday, 4 August 1917, p12.
All Frank's medals and effects were sent to Marcia Powell in Auburn. His medals included the 1914-1915 Star, due to his service in the AN&MEF. After distributing the medals, the military authorities realised that the AN&MEF Wilson and the AIF Wilson were the same person. Marcia was asked to return the excess medals.
Frank Wilson is honoured on the following memorials in Australia:
- Auburn War Memorial
- Municipality of Auburn 1914-1919 Honour Roll
- Roll of Honour Australian War Memorial Canberra
His decorations:
- British War Medal 1914-20
- Victory Medal
- 1914-1915 Star
