Boardman, Francis John
No.3998 – Private Francis John Boardman 51st Battalion AIF
Francis John Boardman was born in Claremont Western Australia in 1898 to John and Frances Boardman. A brother Sydney was born in 1900. The family lived at Holland Street East Fremantle and Francis went to the local state school. He also spent 4 years of service with the 86A Senior Cadets.
On the 2nd August 1917 Francis Boardman presented himself to the recruiting office. As he was under 21 years old he needed the consent of his parents to enlist. Both his parents signed the appropriate forms giving their consent and Frank was accepted into the AIF.
The medical examination found Frank to be 5 feet 4 & ¾ inches in height; weight of 149 lbs; chest measurement of 34-35 inches; fair complexion; grey eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Weslyan.
Frank spent much of August 1917 training at No.D3 Depot and on the 29th August was attached to the 11th Reinforcements to the 51st Battalion. This group seems have gone to Victoria as he is listed as embarking from Melbourne on the A60 H.M.A.T. “Aeneas” on October 30th 1917. During the voyage Frank was admitted to the ship’s hospital with influenza, was released, and then re-admitted with mumps. On arrival at Devonport England, Frank was admitted to No.4 Southern General Hospital at Plymouth. On the 18th January 1918 Frank was sent to No1 Convalescent Depot and from there to 13th Training Battalion at Codford on the Salisbury Plains. On the 18th February Frank was admitted to hospital with influenza but had returned to camp by the 5th March 1918.
On the 1st April 1918, Frank arrived at Etaples in France to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot. On the 6th April 1918 he officially joined up with the 51st Battalion.
His battalion had just seen action at Dernancourt and was soon moved to the vicinity of Villers-Bretonneux. On April 24th the German launched a large assault on the British positions at Villers-Bretonneux and captured the village. The 13th & 15th Brigades were at once tasked with the recapture of the village. The 51st had a vital task and ran into severe machine gun fire from a nearby wood and high ground at Villers-Bretonneux.
The men were held up on belts of barbed wire but got through these to secure their objectives. The casualties to the 51st were high and unfortunately Francis Boardman was one of the men killed. A Private G.E. Jones stated that;
“I knew Boardman quite well and came over from the West with him. On the night of April 24th before we got to the barbed wire, we both got down to see which direction we were going, and on making a start again, he raised his head, saying to me ‘It’s time we were moving on’. Just at that moment he was hit on the left side of the head by a machine gun bullet. He went straight down and never said a word. I turned him over and felt to see if his heart was beating but I could see without that he was dead. He died instantly. The body was buried in the S.E. Corner of Hangard Wood’.
Unfortunately, after the war, Frank’s remains were not recovered and he is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. Many dead from this battle who were recovered were buried in Adelaide Cemetery Villers-Bretonneux and this includes those whose identity could not be established.
His death was reported in the state papers and in memoriam notices would continue to appear for him after the war.
We prayed that God would keep him
And shield him in the fray
But Alas! Our hopes were blighted
When the sad news came that day