Profile

WILLIS, Frank
(Service number 6/2811)

Aliases
First Rank	Private	Last Rank	Lance Corporal

Birth

Date	24/11/1893	Place of Birth	Sheffield, North Canterbury

Enlistment Information

Date	19 April 1915	Age	21 yrs 3 mths
Address at Enlistment	Sheffield
Occupation	Farmer
Previous Military Experience	13th N. Cant & Westland Infantry Regt. (3.5 years)
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	G. WILLIS (father), Sheffield, North Canterbury. Later Mrs J. McLAUGHLIN, Sheffield, North Canterbury [oldest sister, Mary Elizabeth]
Religion	Church of England
Medical Information	Height 5 ft 11 in. Weight 157 lbs. Chest 32-37.5 in. Complexion fair. Eyes blue. Hair red. Sight, hearing, heart & lungs all normal. Limbs, chest well formed. Full movement of joints. Lower teeth good, top teeth artificial. Free from hernia, Variocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Good bodily & mental health. No slight defects. Fit for Field force.

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in	Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	6th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date	14 August 1915
Transport	Willochra or Tofua
Embarked From	Wellington	Destination	Suez, Egypt

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With	Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns	Somme
Service Medals	1914-15 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date		Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date	27 September 1916	Age	23 yrs
Place of Death	Somme, France
Cause	Killed in action
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial, Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France. Memorial inscription on parents' headstone in Waddington Cemetery, Malvern District, Canterbury, NZ
Memorial Reference	Waddington Cemetery - Family plot
New Zealand Memorials	On Memorial wall, Timaru

Biographical Notes

Son of George Reynolds & Mary (nee ARMSTRONG) WILLIS, of Sheffield. His WILLIS grandparents were amongst the Canterbury Pilgrims who arrived in the 'Cressy', one of the first four ships to reach Lyttelton in 1850. Enlisted at Trentham. Joined Battalion at Mudros on 30 September 1915. Disembarked at Alexandria on 30 December 1915. Appointed Lance-Corporal on 4 March 1916. Embarked for France on 6 April 1916. His was one of 175 deaths in New Zealand Casualty List No. 428. Oldest brother George Armstrong WILLIS, of Sumner, Christchurch, became legal next-of-kin following death of their father in January 1916, & was the recipient of the plaque & scroll. his personal effects were to be forwarded to his oldest sister Mrs J. McLAUGHLIN (Mary Elizabeth)

Sources

Cenotaph Database [21 March 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5557 0123271 [22 March 2014]; CWGC [21 March 2014]; Evening Post, 4 February 1916, Timaru Herald, 14 October 1916, North Otago Times, Otago Daily Times & ashburton Guardian, 14 October 1916 (Papers Past) [21 March 2014]; NZ BDM Indexes (DIA) [21 March 2014]; Heather's Armstrong Tree (ancestry.com.au) [22 March 2014]; NZSG Cemetery Records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG microfiche collection) [23 March 2014]

External Links

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