Private Frank DANN (126)
A Company, 15th (Queensland and Tasmania) Battalion Australian Imperial Force

Date of birth: 9th December 1885
Date of death: 9th August 1916

Killed in action aged 30
Commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial
He was born at Bexley, Kent on the 9th of December 1885, the son of Henry Dann, land agent, auctioneer and surveyor, and Elizabeth Ann (nee Wyatt) of 36 Pelham Road, Gravesend, Kent.

He was educated Doon House, Westgate, and at the King's School Canterbury from May 1900 to December 1901, where he was in Holme House.

After school he went into farming becoming sub-agent to the Hope estate at Dorking in Surrey. During this period, he spent a year in the London Rifle Brigade including one and a half months continuous service. In 1911 he went to join his brother in Queensland where he worked on a farm as a selector.

On the outbreak of war he enlisted as Private 1779 in the 2nd Australian Infantry Regiment and on the 8th of August 1914 he embarked at Cairns for garrison duty on Thursday Island. On the 16th of August he embarked at Thursday Island on board the SS “Kanowna” as part of the Australian Expeditionary Force sent to capture German New Guinea. In the event, the ship was forced to turn back and returned to Townsville on the 16th of September after some of the ship's firemen, who had not agreed to enlist, mutinied. Also on the 16th of September 1914 he volunteered for overseas service as Private 126 in the 15th Battalion Australian Imperial Force. He underwent a medical examination, on the same day, where it was recorded that he was 5 feet 10 inches tall, that he weighed 159lbs and that he had a fair complexion, brown eyes and light brown hair. Following a period of training in Victoria, he embarked with his battalion on the 22nd of December 1914 on board HMAT “Ceramic” bound for Egypt as part of 4th Australian Infantry Brigade, ANZAC. After a brief stop in Albany in Western Australia they landed at Egypt in February 1915.
He embarked for Gallipoli on the 12th of April 1915 where the battalion landed at ANZAC in the late afternoon of the 25th of April 1915.

On the 2nd/3rd of May, while behind the trenches at Quinn’s Post in support of an attack by the 2nd Light Horse, Frank Dann was severely wounded in the left lung by a bullet. He was evacuated from Gallipoli on board the Hospital Ship “Gascon” from where he was transferred to No. 1 Stationary Hospital at Lemnos, and was admitted to No. 15 General Hospital, Alexandria on the 7th of May 1915. On the 15th of May 1915 he was evacuated back to the UK on the Hospital Ship “Navassa”. He was sent firstly to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield Park, Denham in Middlesex where he developed chest pains and found breathing difficult which had been brought on by empyema, a condition which had developed as a complication of his wound. He was admitted to the 2nd Western General Military Hospital at Whitworth Street in Manchester on the 29th of May 1915 where he underwent an operation to relieve his empyema on the following day. The procedure was performed by Lieutenants Moritz and Crawshaw. After his operation he returned to Harefield where he was passed as fit for home service at a Medical Board which was convened on the 2nd of September. He was from hospital and was granted a period of furlough. On the 22nd of September 1915 he was reclassified as fit for home service and was posted to the Australian Records Office in London.

In November 1915 he applied to be discharged from the army on the grounds of his fitness and requested that he be released from service and allowed to stay in England. This was denied on the ground that he was ineligible for such a discharge and was informed that he would be returned to Australia so serve there unless he could obtain employment on home service in England. On the 22nd of February 1916, he was brought before a Medical Board where he was reclassified as fit for general service. On the 28th of June 1916 he was posted to the Headquarters of the Australian Imperial Force at Perham Down, near Salisbury. Here he joined the 4th Training Battalion at Rollestone where he underwent further training.

On the 16th of July 1916 he proceeded to France to rejoin his battalion, arriving there on the 18th of July where he marched to the 4th Australian Divisional Base Depot at Etaples. He left Etaples on the 26th of July 1916 and rejoined his battalion in the field on the 27th of July.

On the 9th of August 1916 his battalion was involved in the Australian attack on Pozieres. Having survived the main fighting Frank Dann volunteered to act as a stretcher bearer to assist in recovering one of the many wounded in the area. He was bringing a wounded man in when they were both struck by a shell and killed.
Although he was buried, the original grave site was lost.

He is commemorated on the Gravesend Memorial.
His brother, 2nd Lieutenant Wilfred Dann OKS 12th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, died of wounds on the 30th of October 1917.
Holme House

Back