Frederick Rawlings

Gravestone for Frederick Rawlings in the Pheasant Wood Cemetery, 2014. Photograph: Ann Gervasoni

History

Frederick Rawlings was the son of Mary Ann and Joseph Rawlings. He had four sisters and six brothers. Frederick Rawlings (916) served in the AIF during World War One. He was killed at Fromelles, France.

Legacy

World War One service recognised on the Ballarat Avenue of Honour.

Frederick Rawlings bible was found by a German solider after Private Rawlings was killed. The soldier sent it back to Ballarat in 1935. It was found years later at the Humffray Street North Methodist Church before it was returned to the family.

See also

Allan Bennett

Sydney Rawlings, brother of Frederick Rawlings

Humffray Street Methodist Church Honor Board

Notes

ROLL OF HONOR. An honor board containing the names of about 85 past and present scholars—present in that their names appear still on the rolls of the tho rolls-of Humffray street Methodist Sunday was unveiled in the school on Sunday afternoon by the superintendent Mr S.M. Jeffrey). The names of the past scholars have been inscribed in one column and the names of the present in another. present in another. Three of those mentioned have been killed, viz., Messrs W. and S. Sells, who were killed at Gallipoli, and Lieut Ion who fell at Pozieres whilst Fred Rawlings has been reported missing. Mr Jeffrey delivered a patriotic address.

AFTER almost 94 years, Ballarat soldier Private Frederick Rawlings, and a long-standing family mystery, can finally be laid to rest. Private Rawlings was one of 5533 Australian soldiers killed in the bloodiest conflict in Australian history, the World War I Battle of Fromelles, France. He was one of 250 men buried in a mass grave at Pheasant Wood after the battle of July 19 and 20 in 1916. In the past two years, a joint Australian and British project has aimed to positively identify the remains of those soldiers buried at the site. This week, the Federal Government announced Private Rawlings was one of 75 men who had been identified by name. Also on the list were Corporal Leslie Hart, born in Clunes, and Lance Corporal Allan Bennett, born in Ballarat, both of whom joined the army in Western Australia. All but one of the 75 soldiers have now been re-buried, with full military honours, at a specially constructed cemetery near the battle site. Private Rawlings' grand-niece, Maureen Holding, of Mannibadar, got a call to confirm the news on Tuesday night. 'It's just quite incredible after all these years and huge loss of life, they've actually identified him,' Mrs Holding said yesterday. Last year, Mrs Holding and her brother, Leo Rawlings, gave DNA samples to the Australian Army to help with the identification process. But until seeing a newspaper article more than 20 years ago, they did not know Private Rawlings or his younger brother, Corporal Sydney Rawlings, had even been in the war. On Anzac Day 1988, The Courier published a photo of Cpl Sydney Rawlings and excerpts from a letter from an army chaplain that informed Ballarat family members of Cpl Rawlings' death in Northern France in 1918. 'About two years later, my husband, Malcolm, found in a tin of rusty nails and shoe buckles belonging to my late dad, a set of war medals,' Mrs Holding said. They were inscribed with Sydney's Rawlings' name, and checks of family records and The Courier story confirmed the connection. In 1991, this newspaper published a list of soldiers who had memorial trees in Ballarat's Avenue of Honour. Next to Sydney's name was that of Frederick Rawlings.

External links

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/543125/remains-of-ballarat-soldier-killed-in-france-during-wwi-identified/

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/4042111/fromelles-battle-lest-we-forget-100-years-on/?cs=61

---

--Beth Kicinski 10:27, 24 August 2013 (EST); --Clare K.Gervasoni 20:45, 17 July 2015 (AEST)