Drown, Frederick James
No.963 – Private Frederick James Drown MM – 44th Battalion AIF
Frederick James Drown was born in Albany in 1895 to Richard and Mabel Drown. He was the oldest of seven children. Fred attended the Central State School in Kalgoorlie and after leaving received a private tuition in Accountancy. His parents were also living in Delisle Street North Fremantle. Frederick was working as a Clerk and Accountant in Kalgoorlie while also serving as a signaller in the 84th Goldfields Militia Regiment.
On the 1st January 1916 aged 20 Frederick enlisted into the AIF. He was passed as fit and found to be 5 feet 6 inches in height; weight of 126 lbs; chest measurement of 30-34 inches; fair complexion; blue eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Methodist.
Fred spent a short time in No.46 Depot and on the 3rd February 1916 was sent to the Signal School Depot. He trained and studied here for a month and on the 6th March 1916 was assigned to the Signallers of the 44th Battalions AIF with the regimental no.963. Fred spent the next few months training with the 44th Battalion at Claremont Camp. On the 6th June 1916 Fred and the 44th Battalion boarded the Transport Ship H.M.A.T. “Suevic” in Fremantle and set sail for England.
Reaching Plymouth England on the 21st July 1916, Fred and the 44th were disembarked and sent to the 3rd Division Camp on the Salisbury Plains. They would train here for the next few months and it was not till the end of November that they departed for France. On the 25th November 1916 they left Southampton England bound for Etaples France. After arriving in France the men were sent to the region near Armentieres. They would spend the winter of 1916/17 in this vicinity while they became accustomed to trench warfare.
In the spring of 1917 the 44th Battalion as part of the 3rd Division were transferred to the Ploegsteert sector of Southern Belgium. While here they conducted trench raids and began to prepare for their role in the upcoming Battle of Messines. This attack was to take place on the 7th June 1917 and 19 mines had been laid under the German lines to explode at zero hour after which the infantry would advance. The 44th Battalion were not in the first phase of the assault but relieved the 9th Brigade after they had captured the initial objectives. The 44th Battalion were tasked with advancing further into the German lines which was a harder task as by then the Germans had recovered from their initial shock and were offering tougher resistance. The 44th Battalion were also not helped by their own artillery falling short on to their own positions. However their objectives were taken. Fred would have performed a vital role in this operation by maintaining the signals between headquarters and the front, which most of the time would have been under artillery fire.
After the battle the 44th were relieved for a short time but soon came into the line again to garrison the newly captured territory. During this period at Messines Fred was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry though his actual recommendation cannot be found in the records but would most likely have been for maintaining signal communications while under heavy fire. It was unfortunate that Fred would not live to receive the medal as on the 24th June 1917 he was badly wounded in the abdomen. He was evacuated back to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station but died the same day. He was buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery in plot III.D.104.
His parents living in De Lisle St North Fremantle would receive his effects and medals.