FAY, Francis William

Mrs. Frances Marie Fay, who lived at various addresses in East Melbourne, 38 and 42 Albert St., 151 Hotham St.,and Brunswick St. South (now Morrison Place), had been widowed for eight years in 1914, when the war began. She had to wait as her three sons enlisted; only one of them was to return from the front. Her son, Morgan Augustus Fay, signed up under a false name as George Barry, was taken on with the 38th Battalion and died at Villers-Brettonneux (see his file on P.1 of this website). Another son, Patrick Alphonsus Fay, enlisted with the 3rd Light Horse and returned from the war. The third, Private Francis William Fay, died in 1918 of influenza contracted in the trenches. 

Frank Fay was a surveyor by trade, aged 31, who enlisted at Broadmeadows on 31 January, 1916. He had previous military experience, having trained in the citizens' military forces  with 7 years in the AIR and 4 years in the 71st Infantry. He had enlisted the year before, in 1915, and this was to cause some confusion on his death. His file includes a page reading 'Kindly note that the above mentioned soldier is identical with No 6016A Private F.W. Fay who died at No 5 General Hospital on 28/11/1918." Fot whatever reason, he did not go through with enlisting in 1915, but signed up again in 1916. He was given the number 6016 and later had an A attached to it. Where, on his first enlistment form, he had written that he was born in Echuca, in the second, it was Ballarat. On the first form, he describes his employment as  an ironmonger, while on the second he was a surveyor andthere was also a slight discrepancy with his age. 

At Broadmeadows, he was placed with the 19th Reinforcements, 6th Battalion.They embarked on 21 July, 1916, on board HMAT 'Themistocles' A32, disembarking at Plymouth on 11 September, where they were sent for further training. Frank Fay was promoted to Corporal and assigned temporarily to the 2nd Training Battalion, ADB Depot, before leaving for France on 8 October. He then transferred from the 6th Battalion reinforcements in order to join the 14th battalion reverting to the ranks to do so and, on 14 November, joined his new battalion in the field.

The 14th battalion were at the Western Front, fighting in the 'bloody trench warfare' of the First Battle of the Somme. Frank Fay suffered injury to his eyes, when a shell  landed close by. His medical report read: 'eye became red and painful about April 11, 1917, following a shell explosion. Was sent to 24th General Hospital, Etaples, for treatment and thence to F. Pitt.' He had contracted acute Double Irido Cyclitis, a painful inflammation of both the eyelid and the iris. On 4 July, 1917, he was again transferred, this time to Moorefield Eye Hospital in London.  From here, he was sent as a convalescent to hospital at  Dartford, then granted furlough before reporting to Perham Downs.

Again, he became ill, this time having contracted V.D., and spent another 73 days in hospital, before being released for duty. He was sent overseas for the second time, having been with  the 12th Training Battalion at Codford, rejoining his unit on 15 June, 1918. By now they were in Flanders, engaged in resisting the 'Spring Offensive' of the German Army following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Russia in late 1917. Again, the fighting was fierce, as the Allies tried to push the German units back over the Hindenburg line. After five months in the trenches, Frank Fay contracted influenza, probably the Spanish flu which was to devastate both military and civilians. On 22 November, eleven days after the armistice has been declared, he was taken to hospital in Rouen, where he died three days later, on 28 November, 1918. He was buried at the St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen, Seine Maritime, France.

Frances William Fay is remembered on the AWM Roll of Honour Cards 145 and his name is listed on Panel 72 in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.