Beisley, Frank

2381 Private Frank Beisley - 51st Battalion AIF

Harold Francis (Frank) Beisley was born in Fremantle WA in 1897 to Joshua and Caroline Beisley. He was one of six children with Ellen (1878), Henry Thomas (1888), Sidney (1894), Robert John (1895), Percy (1900) and Arthur (1901).

Frank was educated locally with the family living at 14 Holland Street Fremantle.

After leaving school Frank took up employment as a Gardener but also had training as a blacksmith.

On the 30th March 1916 Frank enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 7 inches;

Wight - 146lbs;

Chest Measurement - 38 & 1/2 inches;

Complexion - Fair;

Eyes - Brown;

Hair - Brown.

After his successful enlistment Frank was sent to Blackboy Hill Training Camp where he was sent into No.60 Training Depot. He was taken through the basics of infantry work at this training depot.

On the 1st May 1916 Frank was then assigned to the 5th Reinforcements to the 51st Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for the next few months.

They finally received their embarkation orders and on the 20th September 1916 Frank and his group boarded the transport ship HMAT Uganda and set sail for England, reaching Plymouth on the 15th November 1916.

After being disembarked Frank was sent into the 13th Training Battalion on the Salisbury Plains. He spent the next six weeks here undergoing final training before being sent to the Western Front.

On the 28th December 1916 Frank boarded a transport ship in Folkestone which took him across the English Channel to France. After arriving in Etaples Frank was sent into the 4th Australian Division Base Depot.

Frank only spent a few days at the Divisional Base Depot as on the 1st January 1917 he was taken on strength of the 51st Battalion AIF. The 51st Battalion were then in the line on the Somme battlefield in France.

It was a harsh introduction to the Western Front for Frank as France was undergoing its coldest winter in decades, and the front line and surrounding areas was a morass of mud and shell holes which froze when the temperature dipped low.

Many men at this time were evacuated with trench feet but it appears that Frank was able to withstand the conditions.

For the first two and a half months of his service the 51st Battalion remained on the Somme battlefield, but as a result of the German retirement to their pre-prepared defensive line known as the Hindenburg Line, the Australians followed up the retirement and were soon free of the muddy Somme battlefield.

The Germans and Australians fought several sharp actions around what was known as the Hindenburg Line outpost villages. On the 2nd April 1917 the 51st Battalion took part in an action at Noreuil. 

The 50th and 51st Battalions attacked the village and had a sever fight with the Germans to wrest control of the village. During the advance which was under heavy German fire, Frank was shot through the left hand.

After initial treatment at the Field Ambulance, Frank was sent to the 32nd Stationary Hospital at Wimereux on the French coast. However he only had a couple of days there before he was sent on a hospital ship to England, where on arrival he was sent to the Guildford War Hospital.

Frank had over three weeks at Guildford receiving treatment on his wound. On the 14th May 1917 he was transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford.

As the bullet had done damage to his hand, it was decided that Frank would not be able to return to the Western Front, and would be invalided home to Australia. The medical officer noted that;

 "while it was a clean wound, (it) went through the palm of the hand fracturing whole metacarpal...wounds still unhealed and requiring foments, middle finger stiff and 1/2 limit action of flexation in other three." 

It was ascertained that it would be at least six months before Frank was fit enough for overseas or home service.

On the 28th May 1917 Frank was sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth to await being assigned a transport ship home.

On the 21st July 1917 Frank boarded the  transport ship Euripides for the journey home, reaching Fremantle on the 11th September 1917.

After being disembarked Frank was sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle to have his wound assessed. It was found that Frank would have a permanent 1/4  incapacity of his hand.

Frank was discharged from the AIF on the 20th December 1917.

From the 21st December 1917 Frank was granted a pension of 15/- per fortnight but on the 4th July 1918 this was reduced to a pension of 10/- per fortnight.

After returning home, Frank returned home to 14 Holland Street and resumed his career as a Gardener. In the 1930's Frank moved to 100 East Street East Fremantle and in 1937 was living at 4 McCleery Street South Fremantle.

In 1943 Frank married Doreen Boardman and they would move to 108 Mary Street South Fremantle. Mary street would soon be renamed Solomon St and Doreen and Frank were still living here in the 1950's.

Harold Francis (Frank) Beisley died in Fremantle WA on the 31st January 1961. He was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery.