Brewer, Frederick

No.2550 – Private Frederick Brewer – 16^th Battalion AIF

Frederick Brewer was born at Ipoh in the Federated States of Malaya in 1895 to William and Charlotte Brewer. Fred’s first five years were spent in Malaya and then he moved with his parents to Western Australia where they took up residence in Malcolm Street Fremantle. Whilst in Fremantle, Fred attended the local state school and spent a period of time in the Senior Cadets.

After leaving school Fred became a labourer and was working as such in Roebourne when he enlisted into the AIF on the 30^th March 1915. The medical examiner found Fred to be 5 feet 6 & ¾ inches tall; weight of 123 lbs; chest measurement of 34 ½ inches; fair complexion; Gray blue eyes and fair hair. Fred also had two tattoos; on the right forearm was the Initial F.B and on his left forearm was a Dragon. His religious denomination was Church of England.

After returning to Perth from Roebourne, Fred went into the Depot at Blackboy Hill Camp and was then assigned to the 6^th Reinforcements to the 16^th Battalion AIF. For an unstated reason Fred was withdrawn from the 6^th Reinforcements but was then attached to the 7^th Reinforcements to the 16^th Battalion. This group left Fremantle on the H.M.A.T. “Chilka” on the 18^th June 1915. When this group arrived in Egypt they spent little time in training as due to the need for reinforcements at Gallipoli the men were sent straight on to join the 16^th Battalion. Fred arrived at Anzac Cove on the 2^nd August 1915, just in time to take part in the August Offensive. On August 7^th the 16^th Battalion as part of the 4^th Brigade AIF along with British, Indian and New Zealand units made their way through the scrubby foothills to the north of Anzac to try and capture the vital heights.

Much ground was captured though the vital heights were not taken despite the bravery of the troops involved. Many of Fred’s reinforcement group became casualties over the 7^th & 8^th August though he came through unscathed. The short time at Anzac for Fred took its toll as he was evacuated sick to the 4^th Field Ambulance on the 22^nd August. He returned to his unit on the 7^th September thereby missing further battles at Hill 60 which occurred in late August. After he arrived back to the 16^th he was again taken ill and evacuated once again to the 4^th Field Ambulance. This time he seemed to recover and he rejoined the 16^th Battalion on the 2^nd October 1915. He stayed with the 16^th until the evacuation of the peninsula in late December.

Once the evacuation became known, the men were gradually being sent to the ships. The evacuation was to be complete by December 20^th. Fred Brewer left with his contingent of C Company on the 19^th December at 530pm while the reaming few 16^th Battalion men would leave 930pm on the 19^th and into the early hours of the 20^th. The men were taken back to Lemnos Island and then back to Egypt, Fred arrived back in Alexandria on the 30^th December 1915.

For the next five months Fred would spend training in the Egyptian desert for preparation for their journey to the Western Front battlefields. The 16^th Battalion departed Egypt on the 1^st June 1916 and arrived at Marseilles on the 9^th June. The battalion was sent up to the north of France in the vicinity of Armentieres where they were to become accustomed to trench life. They spent a few weeks in this sector before being sent south to the Somme. Fred survived the 16^th’s first time in the line at Pozieres though when they returned on the 28^th August he was not so lucky. There are no eyewitness accounts of his death but it seems Fred was killed on the 30^th August 1916. He had initially been reported as wounded but no other details emerged and he was finally listed as killed in action.

He must have been buried in a marked grave as after the war the Imperial War Graves Authorities were able to exhume his grave from the battlefield and he was reburied at Villers-Bretoneux Military Cemetery Plot IIIA.D.6.

His parents, who had since moved to Hubble Street East Fremantle penned an epitaph for his headstone;

‘In Loving Memory of my dear son, In honour’s cause he fell’

Fred’s Brother Thomas Edward Brewer served in the BEF from 1914 as No.7293 in the 2^nd Wiltshire Regiment, was wounded two times and captured in 1918. He later went on to serve in North Russia.