Solomon, Frederick Ivan

2417 Private Frederick Ivan Solomon - 44th Battalion AIF

Frederick Ivan Solomon was born in Fremantle Western Australia in 1895 to Elias and Elizabeth Solomon. He was one of eleven siblings in the family. Frederick's father Elias was well known in Fremantle. He had been a town councillor and also Mayor of Fremantle in 1881. From 1892 to 1901 Elias was a member of the Legislative Assembly for South Fremantle and from 1901 to 1903 he was the first Federal Member for Fremantle. In 1909 Elias Solomon died in Beaconsfield. His wife Elizabeth had pre-deceased him in 1898. 

Frederick was educated in Fremantle and after leaving school he lived with his siblings in Mary Street Fremantle. (Mary Street was later renamed Solomon Street). During this time he had also served with the cadet scheme of the citizens military forces.

Frederick took up farming and was working as such when he enlisted into the AIF on the 2nd May 1916. The medical officer passed him as fit for service and recorded his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 4 & 1/2 inches tall;

Weight - 134lbs;

Chest Measurement - 33-36 inches;

Complexion - Fresh;

Eyes - Brown;

Hair - Dark Brown.

After his successful enlistment Fred was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.67 Training Depot. He was taken through the basics of infantry work in this depot. On the 20th June 1916 Fred was transferred into the 4th Reinforcements to the 44th Battalion. 

Fred had a few months of training with this group in WA. On the 13th October 1916 Fred and his group boarded the transport ship HMAT Port Macquarie in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for England, disembarking at Plymouth on the 12th December 1916.

After being disembarked Fred and his group were marched into the 11th Training Battalion on the Salisbury Plains. They were then taken through more training to prepare them for life on the Western Front.

On the 5th March 1917 Fred was sent to Fargo Military Hospital as he had come down ill. Fortunately he soon recovered and was back at the Camp by the 21st March 1917.

On the 10th April 1917 Fred was in a group of reinforcements being sent to France. He was taken on strength of the 44th Battalion on the 13th April 1917. The Battalion was then in the Ploegsteert sector in southern Belgium.

The 44th Battalion would soon be taking part in the Messines Offensive which would begin on June 7th 1917. The 44th Battalion took part in the offensive and on June 10th Fred was evacuated ill. Fortunately he recovered quickly and was back with his unit by the 22nd June 1917.

The 44th Battalion remained in the Messines sector through to August 1917. On July 31st the 44th Battalion had taken part in the attack at Warneton and Fred came through unscathed.

From September to November 1917 the 44th Battalion were in the vicinity of Ypres where they took part in the offensive actions around Zonnebeke and Passchendaele. It appears that Fred was being used as a Battalion Runner which meant he had to run messages between the front line companies and battalion and brigade headquarters. It was a dangerous task as German artillery fire and machine gun fire targeted the main roads, trenches and paths that the Runners would have to go.

On the 9th October 1917 Fred was temporarily detached to the 3rd Division Headquarters as a runner. It appears that this detachment to the 3rd Division Headquarters lasted for the remainder of the war.

Fred's role was a dangerous one as he would have always had to traverse areas being covered by German shellfire to take messages through to the front and back again but fortunately he was never wounded.

In early 1919 he had his first period of leave to England after which he fell ill and was hospitalised for a further stretch of time.

On the 21st June 1919 Fred boarded the transport ship Kongin Louise and set sail home for WA, disembarking at Fremantle on the 3rd August 1919.

Fred was discharged from the AIF on the 3rd September 1919.

After returning home Fred resumed farming out at Perenjori

On the 1934 Fred married Gwendoline Mabel Leaver in Perth.

In the 1960's Fred later claimed his brother Valentine's Anzac Medallion as Valentine had died in 1959.

Fred died in 1979 in Como aged 83