Local Heroes WW1

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 03 June 2015 02:11

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(L Corp) Francis George Hyde Pownall

Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall a Sailor prior to enlistment 23th Novembert 1914, he embarked with the 12th Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A50 Itonus on 15 February 1915.

THE LATE CORPORAL FRANK G. H. POWNALL.

Corporal Frank G. H. Pownall, who was killed in France on August 23, was the only son of Mr. G. H. Pownall, of Sydney. He     left for Egypt in September, 1915, and on the evacuation of Gallipoli was transferred to the French front. He was a promising musician and was at one time a member

of the Royal Chapel Choir, Windsor, Eng land, where he was repeatedly selected for special work. At the time of his enlist- ment he was in the employ of Messrs. Brock & Co , of Port Adelaide, and was held in high esteem by all those with whom he came in contact. By his death the Rev. M. Williams, of St. Paul's Angli- can Church, Port Adelaide, has lost a   valuable member of the church and a loyal supporter. He also filled the position of assistant organist to Mr. (now Signaller)
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J. T. Chamberlain, who is also at the front. Corporal Pownall was of a cheerful disposition, and will be sadly missed by a large circle of friends, He left two sisters, who reside in Sydney with their parents. - The Adelaide Chronicle Saturday 21 October 1916 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/87527050

International Commemoration

On 22 July 1938, King George dedicated this Australian National War Memorial at Villers–Bretonneux with the words, “... it perpetuates the memory of the Australian Imperial Force in France and Flanders, and of 11,000 of them who fell in France and have no known grave.”

Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France - Around the walls of the Memorial were the names of some 11,000 Australians ‘missing’ in action in France, Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall's name is amongst them. On the night of 24–25 April 1918, Australian soldiers recaptured Villers-Bretonneux from the Germans, a battle also remembered in the Franco-Australian museum at the Victoria school in the town. In the playground is a sign: ‘Do Not Forget Australia’.

National Commemoration

Story of Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall
delivered 13 March 2015 at the Australian War Memorial (click to View)

Last Post - Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall 3075, 10th Battalion, AIFKilled in Action 23 August 1916

Description

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (3075) Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War. The address is read by Seargent Michael Barr.

Speech text

3075 Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall, 10th Battalion, AIF
KIA 23 August 1916
No photograph in collection

 

Story delivered 13 March 2015

 

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall, who died during the First World War.

 

Francis Pownall was born in London in 1896, the eldest child and only son of parents George and Blanche. He was musically oriented, and as one of the “Children of the Chapel Royal” who sang for the monarch Francis performed a solo in the death chamber of King Edward III at Buckingham Palace, and sang at the Coronation of King George V in Westminster Abbey. The Pownall family moved to Sydney when Francis was 16, but Francis was working as a clerk for a shipping agent in Port Adelaide when he enlisted in the AIF in June 1915.

 

Pownall was assigned to the 10th reinforcements to the 10th Battalion. In September he left Adelaide on board HMAT Ballarat, and after a period of training in Egypt joined his battalion in the Dardanelles. After the evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula in December 1915 Francis was transferred to France.

 

The 10th Battalion’s first major action on the Western Front was in late July at Pozières. One month later, as part of the 1st Infantry Division, the battalion was engaged in more fighting to the north-west at the German stronghold of Mouquet Farm. Heavy German artillery bombardments preceding and during the 1st Division’s advance incurred great losses. Even before launching their attack on the 21st, the 10th Battalion had sustained 120 casualties, and during the advance the numbers of killed and wounded were, according to the battalion’s war diary, “heavy and rapid”. When the 10th Battalion was relieved from the front lines on 22 August it had suffered a total of 335 casualties. Francis Pownall was one of them.

 

The exact particulars of Ponwall’s death are unknown, and he was listed as “killed in action” on 23 August. In reporting his death, an Adelaide newspaper stated that Francis “was held in high esteem by all those with whom he came into contact” and that he would be “sadly missed by a large circle of friends.” The 19 year old was reported to have been buried near Mouquet Farm, but his grave was never found. Today Pownall is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, along with more than 10,700 other Australians.

 

Francis Pownall’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with the names of more than 60,000 other Australians who died fighting in the First World War.

 

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

 

Dr Kate Ariotti
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour circular, National Archives of Australia, Francis George Hyde Pownall, attestation papers. 10th Battalion War Diary, 22 August 1916: AWM4 23/27/10. C.E.W. Bean, Official history of Australia in the war of 1914–1918, volume III, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1921–42, p. 802. “The late Corporal Frank G.H. Pownall”, The Chronicle, 21 October 1916, p. 44. Australian Graves Services to Base Records, 3 October 1922, NAA B2455 POWNALL FRANCIS GEORGE HYDE.

National Commemoration

Australian War Memorial Canberra - At the heart of the Memorial building is the Roll of Honour: a long series of bronze panels recording the names of over 102,000 members of the Australian armed forces who have died during or as a result of war service, warlike service, non-warlike service and certain peacetime operations.

Location on the Roll of Honour - Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall's name is located at panel 90 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial (as indicated by the poppy on the plan).

State Commemoration

South Australia National War Memorial on North Terrace "TO THOSE WHO NOBLY STRIVING NOBLY FELL THAT WE MIGHT LIVE"

Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall’s name is commemorated on the large honour rolls lining the walls of the crypt inside the South Australia National War Memorial on North Terrace, which was unveiled by the State Governor on Anzac Day 1931. Inside the crypt, bronze panels contain the names of the 5,511 South Australians who fell in the war.

Local Commemoration

The Semaphore War Memorial was dedicated in 1925 to honour all of those from the district who fought in the war, such as Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall.

The Semaphore War Memorial on the Esplanade was dedicated in 1925 to honour all of those from the district who fought in the war. A temporary ‘Memorial Arch’ of wood and iron was first erected at the entrance to the Semaphore Jetty bearing the banner title, ‘For King & Empire’. On 27 April 1924, four foundation stones for the new memorial were laid at the approach to the jetty – one on behalf of the citizens of Port Adelaide district, one for the RSSILA, one on behalf of the parents of the fallen men, and one on behalf of the widows and orphans.

If Francis's Mother Blanche and Father Geoff Pownallt lived in Adelaide they would have attended the laying of these foundation stones in 1924 – with its immediate relevance to her. The stone for the parents of those who fell, such as Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall was laid by Mrs Magnus Wald. The late Magnus Wald had been owner of Glanville Hall, proprietor of the South Australian Stevedoring Company and member for Scarborough Ward 1898-00.

This foundation stone for the Semaphore War Memorial was laid at the approach to the jetty on 27 April 1924 by Mrs Magnus Wald on behalf the parents of those who fell. For Mrs Blanche Pownall, this memorial honoured her son Fracis who was Killed in Action 23 August 1916.

They would of liked to have been among the several thousand people who attended the actual unveiling of the Semaphore War Memorial the following year.

The following year, a granite obelisk was erected on the foundation stones, with an electric ‘turret type’ clock and topped by a marble Angel of Peace with wings outspread. The local newspaper noted, “all the names of those who enlisted from the district or who made the supreme sacrifice cannot be placed on the monument” so it instead bears a simple commemorative plaque.

Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL

For the 2015 commemoration of the Anzac Centenary, the Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL has created a virtual Honour Board listing the names of over 2,000 local men who volunteered to serve in World War 1. Among them are counted Lance Corporal Francis George Hyde Pownall  a shipping agent from Port Adelaide who served in the AIF 10th Battalion in France.

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