Frederick Burnell was a clerk, living in East Melbourne. He was 36 years old,  widowed, with two sons, Francis Joseph and Frederick Thomas Burnell, whom he left in the care of their maternal grandmother, Mrs. E. Hall. He enlisted on 17 August, 1914, and after training at Broadmeadows, was attached to G company, 6th Battalion, one of the first battalions raised in Victoria. He had already had some military service, first with the 3rd East Surrey Volunteers, then the City Imperial Volunteers, London, and finally with the South African Constabulary. 

The 6th Battalion embarked from Melbourne on 19 October, 1914 on board HMAT 'Hororata' A20 . After a brief stop in Albany to join other ships, they sailed on to Egypt. From there, they joined the British Expeditionary Force and sailed to the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Frederick Burnell took part in the first landing at Anazc Cove, where the 6th Battalion was part of the second wave of Ausrtalian and New Zealand soldiers. He was killed in action on 25 April 1915 at Gallipoli. His body was never recovered and a Court of Inquiry first declared him missing in action, then dead . His name is listed at the Lone Pine Cenetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canukkale, Turkey. He is listed on the AWM Roll of Honour Panel 46 and in the AWM Cards 145.