LACY, Francis Prior
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | Unspecified British Units |
| Born: | St. Helens, Qld., 28 January 1887 |
| Home Town: | Hobart, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | The Armidale School |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 13 August 1915, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
Cambrin Military Cemetery, Cambrin, France C. 15. |
| Memorials: | Armidale School War Memorial Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Aug 1915: | Involvement British Forces (All Conflicts), Captain, Officer, Unspecified British Units, Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry attached 170th Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
FRANCIS PRIOR LACY (28.1.1887 - 13.8.1915) Called Frank.
Son of Dyson and Frances Amelia Lacy, of Montague Avenue, Augusta Rd., Hobart, Tasmania. Born at St. Helens, Queensland, Australia.
His father was Dyson Lacy. At TAS 1 year from, Feb to Dec. 1898. He left TAS to go to Brisbane Grammar School “as the winters here would be too severe for him after his late illness”. (Armidalian May 1899). After leaving school he sat for the London University Matriculation exam and later graduated from South Kensington School with honours, taking a gold medal in his final examination.
Served - Soon afterwards he went to Mexico where he was when the War broke out. He Immediately sailed for England where he tried to get a commission in his brother-in-law's Regiment. He was, however, appointed to the Royal Engineers “Where he did excellently on the Western Front, blowing up great portions of the German trenches and on May 11th 1915 was honourably mentioned in dispatches, awarded the Military Cross and personally thanked by three of the Generals for his good work; but, unfortunately he did not enjoy his honours long, for on August 13th he and 6 of his men went into one of the mines they were making to see how the work was going on when a counter-mine was fired and he and his men were killed instantly cutting off at the very outset a most brilliant and promising career, and one whose name every Armidalian may indeed feel proud of”. He served as a Captain. Served in France from 20.2.1915 until killed in action 13.8.1915. He was awarded the Military Cross (London Gazette 23.6.1915). Killed in Belgium aged 28.
Buried in Row C Grave 15 of the Cambrin Military Cemetery, France
There is some confusion about his Initials. He is F.B. in the Register of Scholars and on the list on the Douglas Street entrance, and he is E.P. on the Honour Roll In the Chapel. Brother - His elder brother James Dyson Lacy, was also at TAS. He was 6 feet 5 inches tall and went to the Midland Dairying Institute in England later managed a large cheese and butter factory in Somerset and then became head instructor in dairying and bacteriology at a Dairying School in North Wales. Later he did research at Midland Dairying Institute. He was in the Australian Light Horse and landed at Anzac on 21.5.1915.
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