Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Francis Albert George Sims, known as Frank, was born on 12 March 1892 at Dunedin, the eldest son of Francis Albert (Frank) and Louisa Sarah (née Pearce) Sims. Francis and Louisa married in 1891 and had three sons and three daughters, the second and third children being born at Fairlie. Frank (senior) who was a rabbiter spent considerable time in South Canterbury (Fairlie, Pleasant Point, Opuha, Sutherlands). He was also a patient at Seaciff. He and Louisa were often apart. Francis Albert George was educated at Forbury and Macandrew Road schools in Dunedin, twice going home ill (1898 and 1905). When Francis and his siblings attended various Dunedin schools, their father was most often named parent/guardian. Only for the two youngest at Mornington School in 1912 was their mother named. The youngest was at the Anglican Home when he went to Andersons Bay School in 1919. Young Frank went on to study engineering at Dunedin Technical classes.

Frank Albert Sims was a draper in Invercargill when he enlisted at Tahuna Camp on 21 September 1914. Single and Presbyterian, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Sims, Laing’s Road, Mornington, Dunedin. He had served with the 8th Regimental Band (Invercargill). He had also belonged to the belonged to the 2nd South Canterbury Band at some time, an indication that he had spent time in South Canterbury. Private F. A. Sims embarked with the Otago Infantry Battalion, Main Body, departing from Port Chalmers for Suez, Egypt on 16 October 1914, the same day as his brother Frederick.

‘Private Prank Sims, writing to his mother, Mrs F. A. Sims, 9 Laing’s road, Mornington, says: — Fred and I are both well, and so far have escaped injury. We are quite proud of ourselves. If some of the shirkers could only see their suffering countrymen and then'refuse to come and help, I think you women folk should get some rifles and help hunt them out of this world. I have attended to a goodly number of wounded, and have had some narrow escapes. One day a shell burst over a crowd of ns, wounding chums on both sides, but Providence must be on our side. We received the parcel all right. When you ere sending a parcel again don’t forget to enclose a packet of cornflour, or anything light that we can cook readily. A tin of sherbert or dried rnilk wonld be most acceptable. I have seen plenty of Turks, both dead and alive. I see plenty of aeroplanes, and admire the pluck of the aviators. It’s just splendid to see them ascend, sometimes amid heavy fire, just as if they were indulging in practice. Sometimes their object is to drop bombs on the enemy, and on other occasions to give the range to our battleshins. My word, when the Queen Elizabeth fires her big guns you would think the world had come to an end.’ [Evening Star, 20 August 1915.] Frank’s brother Frederick Edwin Sims had also enlisted on the outbreak of war.

Frank Albert Sims was admitted to the Military Hospital at Walton on Thames in late April 1916 and then to Mount Felix in May. 8/207 Frank Albert Sims arrived home per the “Athenic” on 6 June 1916. He was discharged on 7 July 1916, no longer physically fit for War Service, and was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His intended address was the Farmers’ Co-op Association, Timaru. At the Second (South Canterbury) Regimental Band’s annual meeting in May 1917, F. A. Sims (who has just returned) was included in a list read out giving the names of six ex-members who had joined the forces from other towns. The Timaru Wesley Hall was filled on the night of 11 July 1918 by an audience which listened with appreciation to a bright concert programme, and some brief but interesting remarks on the Y.M.C.A.’s fine work on behalf of our soldiers. The concert programme included a solo, “Laddie in Khaki,” by Mr F. A. Sims. In February 1933, history of the Timaru Municipal Band was recalled. A Roll of Honour list of members of the band who served in the War included F. A. Sims.

Frank Albert Sims married Agnes Read at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Dunedin in 1917. Frank and Agnes had two daughters and a son, James Frank Sims who served in World War Two. They were living in Timaru in 1919, their first child born there. By 1920 when James was born, they were in Dunedin, where they remained until Agnes’ death on 4 September 1969. Some time after, Frank moved to Lower Hutt. He had married Daisy Constance. Francis Albert George Sims died on 1 September 1977, aged 85 years, and was cremated at Karori Crematorium, Wellington. His brother Frederick Edwin Zuling Sims also served in World War One, and his youngest brother James Alfred Sims served in World War Two. Their father, Francis Albert Sims, who had suffered a paralytic stroke, died in January 1946 at Dunedin and was buried in a family plot in the Northern Cemetery. Their mother, Louisa Sarah Sims, who mostly recorded herself as a widow from about 1919, had moved to Auckland by 1941, probably to be closer to a daughter. She died there in March 1952 and was cremated, her ashes interred at Waikumete Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [20 April 2026]; Evening Star, 20 August 1915, Timaru Herald, 23 May 1917, 12 July 1918, 11 February 1933 (Papers Past) [20, 21 & 22 April 2026]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [20 April 2026]; School Admission records [21 & 22 April 2026]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [20 April 2026]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.