Freeman, Reginald Frederick
2440 Private Reginald Frederick Freeman - 43rd Battalion AIF
Reginald Frank James Freeman was born in Fremantle in 1891 to John and Bridget Freeman. He had four other siblings, George (1893), John (1894), Nicoletta (1896) and Charles (1898).
The family initially lived in Fremantle and then moved to York before moving back to Fremantle. Reg was educated both in Fremantle and York and after leaving school he took up work as a Storeman.
In 1915 in Beaconsfield Reg married Phoebe Emmeline King and they had a daughter called Ena born the following year. The Freeman's took up residence at Owen Road Hamilton Hill.
On the 15th May 1916 Reg enlisted into the AIF in Fremantle. He was accepted as fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 7 & 3/4 inches tall;
Weight - 141lbs;
Chest Measurement - 33-35 inches;
Complexion - Fresh;
Eyes - Green;
Hair - Black.
After his successful enlistment Reg was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp. He had his first month in the infantry training depot and was then sent to the 4th Reinforcements to the 44th Battalion. He then trained with this group in WA for the next three months, however prior to embarking he was transferred into the 4th Reinforcements to the 43rd Battalion.
Though nominally a South Australian unit, the 43rd Battalion took a reinforcement group from WA.
On the 30th October 1916 Reg boarded the transport ship Port Melbourne in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for England, reaching Devonport Harbour on the 28th December 1916.
After being disembarked Reg and his group were sent into the 11th Training Battalion at Durrington Camp on the Salisbury Plains. Reg would spend the next three and a half months training in England.
Reg arrived in Etaples France on the 20th April 1917 and he went into the 3rd Australian Division Base Depot. He had a few days here and was officially taken on strength of the 43rd Battalion on the 24th April 1917. The 43rd Battalion were then situated in southern Belgium near the French border.
Reg would serve with the 43rd Battalion for the next several months including at the Battle of Messines in June 1917 and at Warneton in July 1917. He came through these actions unscathed despite high casualties in his unit.
On the 8th August 1917 Reg was evacuated sick with defective vision and after a few weeks in hospital returned to his unit at the end of the month. However a few days later Reg was struck down with a severe case of influenza and was evacuated to the 58th General Hospital at St Omer. He was then sent on to the 7th Convalescent Camp at Boulogne. On the 27th September 1917 he was transferred to the 10th Convalescent Camp at Ecault. Reg had several more weeks here, only rejoining the 43rd Battalion on the 17th November 1917.
The 43rd Battalion were then holding the line between Messines and Ypres in Belgium and remained there till March 1918.
As a result of the German offensive on the 21st March 1918 which broke through the British Armies to the south, the Australians were sent south towards Amiens. The 43rd Battalion were in action in late March 1918 near Sailly Laurette near the Somme River. In conjunction with other units the 43rd Battalion managed to stop the German advance and for the next few months they were holding the line in an area between Villers-Bretonneux and Hamel.
On July 4th 1918 Reg took part in his Battalion's successful capture of Hamel village from the Germans and the following month on August 8th he also took part in the successful advance from Villers-Bretonneux which began pushing the Germans back.
On the 29th August 1918 Reg was granted a period of leave to England, rejoining his unit on the 16th September 1918. However the following day he was admitted to hospital with debility. This kept him in hospital for the rest of the war, as he was still away from his unit when Armistice was declared on the 11th November 1918.
Reg rejoined the 43rd Battalion on the 3rd December 1918. The Australians then went into what had been German occupied Belgium and spent the first few months of 1919 there, most being based near the City of Charleroi.
Towards the end of the war, Reg and those that were still with the 43rd Battalion from their reinforcement group had a photo taken. Of the 153 men who had embarked with the 4th Reinforcements to the 43rd Battalion from Fremantle on the 30th October 1916, by the end of 1918 there were only 15 men left, as the rest had been killed in action, transferred to other units or evacuated wounded or sick. (Reg is in the front row on left)
Reg left Belgium on the 28th April 1919 and returned to England where he went into Codford Camp. On the 1st June 1919 Reg boarded the transport ship Somali and set sail for Australia, reaching Fremantle on the 8th July 1919.
Reg was officially discharged from the AIF on the 16th August 1919.
On his return from the war Reg and Phoebe would have five more children, Eva and Ethel (1920), Olive (1923), Doris (1927) and Patricia (1931). The family had then moved to 164 Attfield Street Fremantle. By 1925 the family were living at 113 Hope Street Fremantle.
In the 1930's they were living at Smith Street Beaconsfield. Tragedy struck the family in 1932 when their oldest daughter 16 year old Ena died. The following year Reg's wife Phoebe died aged just 37.
In 1958 in Fremantle Reg remarried to Ivy Reichard.
Reg died on the 4th August 1978 in Coolbellup WA. He was buried at Fremantle Cemetery plot Anglican Mon A3 0995.