Profile

ROBERTS, Frank William
(Service number 8/1618)

Aliases
First Rank Lance Corporal Last Rank

Birth

Date 03/02/1891 Place of Birth Clinton

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment 12 Howard Street, Dunedin
Occupation Labourer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs M. ROBERTS (mother), 12 Howard Street, Dunedin; Mrs M. ROBERTS, Post office, Timaru; Mrs M. ROBERTS, 36 Harrow Street, Dunedin
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 3rd Reinforcement
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Otago Infantry Battalion
Date 14 February 1915
Transport Maunganui or Tahiti or Aparima
Embarked From Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
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 17 May 1962 Age 71 years
Place of Death Wakari Hospital, Dunedin
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin
Memorial Reference Ashes scattered
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Frank William Roberts (Robert) was born on 3 February 1891 at Clinton, the eldest son of David Farquharson Robert and his Polish-born wife, Mary (Maria) Magdalene née Belesky (Bielicki). It appears that his birth was registered twice – as Frank Robert at Popotunoa (Clinton) and as Frank Roberts at Temuka. The surname was often interchanged in family records - Robert and Roberts. Frank was educated at Gore School and Invercargill Middle School. He was a successful athlete in his youth. He was a labourer at a brewery, giving 12 Howard Street, Dunedin, as his address, when he enlisted, and nominating his mother Mrs M. Roberts, as his next-of-kin. Her address was first recorded as 12 Howard Street, Dunedin; later as Post Office, Timaru; and later still as 36 Harrow Street, Dunedin. Casualty List No. 601, published in June 1917, listed Frank Wm Roberts among the wounded. His mother was then recorded as of Timaru.

Frank William Roberts married Henrietta Ward in 1920 at Dunedin. He died on 17 May 1962 at Wakari Hospital, Dunedin, and was cremated at Andersons Bay. Henrietta died in 1965 and was also cremated. Frank’s youngest brother, Thomas Alexander Roberts (Robert) was reported missing very soon after landing at the Dardanelles, and was found to have been killed in action. Frank (Lance-Corporal William Roberts) was wounded at much the same time. His other brother, James Wood Robert, who was next-of-kin for Thomas, was listed on the Reserve Roll, being a married man with a child. The link of Frank and/or his mother to Timaru has not been identified.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [15 August 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [18 August 2020]; School Admission records [18 August 2020]; Andersons Bay Crematorium record (Dunedin City Council) [18 August 2020]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [17 August 2020]; Lyttelton Times, 15 June 1915, Evening Star, 4 February 1916, Timaru Herald, 23 June 1917, Otago Daily Times, 15 March 1921 (Papers Past) [03 & 18 August 2020]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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