Photo of plaque M404APhoto of Brad Atkinson accepting the plaque as the Great Grandson of Corporal Francis Frederick Atkinson. Photo: D. Nicolson.
Rank
Corporal
Service number
3239
Unit
11 Battalion
Cause of death
Killed in Action
Place of death
Pozieres, France
Date of death
25 July 1916
Age
26
Plaque number
M404A
Co-located plaques
M404 - PTE Arthur Hollands
Dedicated by
Great Grandson and Family on 13 August 2016
More information

Biography presented during plaque dedication:

Corporal Francis Frederick Atkinson was born in September 1889 at Broken Hill, New South Wales.

Little is known about his early life and family. When he moved to Western Australia is not clear except that he enlisted in Kalgoorlie and was employed as a bread carter. He was married and had two children.

When he enlisted in July 1915 he was initially trained at Blackboy Hill Training Camp and became part of 8 to 12 Reinforcements allocated to 11 Battalion.

He embarked at Fremantle on HMAT Ulysses on the 2 November 1915 bound for the war in Europe.

After further training in Egypt, the battalion moved to France and took part in bloody trench warfare in the Somme Valley.

Corporal Francis Frederick Atkinson, service number 3238, was killed in action at Pozieres, France on 25th July 1916. He was 26 years of age.

His name is recorded on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Picardie, France.

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