No.2313 – Private Frederick William Evans – 37th Battalion AIF
Frederick William Evans was born in Fremantle WA in 1893 to Richard and Elizabeth Evans. He was educated at Beaconsfield State School and after leaving took up work as a Driver. On the 2nd May 1916 Frederick enlisted into the AIF. He was passed as fit at Belmont Camp and was found to be 5 feet 8 ½ inches tall; weight of 161 lbs; chest measurement of 35-37 inches; fair complexion; blue eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was CofE.
Frederick was sent to No.66 Depot where he stayed till the 20th June. He was then assigned to the 3rd Reinforcements to the 44th Battalion; however he left them on the 3rd July and was allotted to a group being sent to Victoria to undertake training as Tunnellers. He arrived at Seymour Camp in Victoria on the 18th July and remained there until the 8th of August. He was then transferred to the Light Horse Reinforcement Camp, however his stay was short and a few days later he was assigned to the 4th Reinforcements to the 37th Battalion. He trained with this group in Victoria until they embarked from Melbourne on the “Port Lincoln” on the 20th October 1916. The long sea voyage took them via Sierra Leone to England.
Arriving at Plymouth England on the 9th January 1917, Fred was marched into the 10th Training Battalion on the Salisbury Plains. On the 19th February he was admitted sick to Fargo Military Hospital but had returned a week later. On the 1st March he was in trouble for failing to attend a parade and was given two days of Field Punishment No.2 as a result. On the 20th April 1917 he left Folkestone England and travelled across by ship to Etaples France where he was marched into the 3rd Australian Division Training Depot. He only had a few days here and joined the 37th Battalion if the field on the 25th April 1917.
Fred’s front line service was to be short as on the 14th May 1917 he was badly wounded when shrapnel hit him in the groin. He was transferred back to the 9th Field Ambulance and then to the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station where his wounds were treated.
Unfortunately they proved to be too severe and he died on the 17th May 1917. Frederick Evans was buried in Trois Arbres Cemetery in Steenwerck France in plot I.L.5.
Evans, Frederick. City of Fremantle Local History Centre, accessed 08/04/2026, https://history.fremantle.wa.gov.au/nodes/view/44787