Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

L/Cpl. Frank Albert Percy Shaw 4907, and his two brothers 2867A Pvt. George Ronald Shaw and 4905 Pvt. Darcy Richard Nottingham Shaw, enlisted for active service. Each were killed in action in either France or Belgium. They were the sons of Mr. and Mrs Thomas Shaw of Jondowae, Qld.

# 4907 SHAW Frank Albert Percy      15th Battalion
 
Frank Shaw reported he was born on 21st October 1895 to Thomas and Mary Shaw, at Irvingdale, a farming community near Bowenville on the Western Downs of Qld. Frank was one of three brothers who all attended school at Bell where the family had presumably relocated. The boys father, Thomas, described each of his sons as having worked as a contractor’s assistant and it is likely that Thomas Shaw ran a contracting business in which he employed his three sons as general labourers.
 
Frank Shaw presented himself to the Toowoomba Recruiting Depot on 28th September 1915. He was accompanied by his younger brother, D’Arcey, and both were accepted into the AIF. Frank was 19 years old and his brother had just turned 18. Neither file contains a permission form from their parents which would ordinarily been required as they were under 21 years of age. Frank and Darcy took the train to Enoggera Camp where they were both taken in to the 15th reinforcements of the 15th Battalion. It is possible that the boy’s elder brother George, who had enlisted in July 1915, may still have been in camp with the 26thBattalion.
 
After a period of initial training, Frank and Darcy boarded the “Commonwealth” in Brisbane for the voyage to Egypt. The embarkation roll shows the brothers with regimental numbers only two apart. The reinforcements landed in Egypt on 5th May 1916. Frank spent some time in hospital with mumps and by the time he was discharged, Darcy had already shipped out to the Western Front to be taken on strength by the 15thBattalion.
 
Rather than go directly to the camps in France, Frank was sent to the 4th Training Battalion on Salisbury Plain in England. The Battalions of the AIF experienced some heavy fighting in July and August of 1916 during the Somme campaign and once they were relieved and went into reserve positions in Belgium, reinforcements from England and the base depots in France were moved out to replaced those who had been killed or wounded. Frank crossed the English Channel to France in October 1916 and joined the 15thBattalion in camp at Renninghelst in Belgium.
 
As the Autumn weather of 1916 progressed into Winter, the 15th Battalion began a period of rest and refurbishment at the large Ontario Camp near Renninghelst. In November, the 4th Division moved south back to the Somme where the 15th spent considerable time erecting Nissen Huts for winter quarters. It is likely that at this time, the Frank and Darcy were reunited. As a consequence of working outside in freezing conditions, Frank contracted influenza and was hospitalised for several weeks. Frank returned to duty and resumed the work of improving the camp. In late January the, the battalion was ordered up to the front line. On 1st February 1917, Frank’s younger brother Darcy, was killed in a trench raid. This would have fallen very hard on Frank as the brothers were obviously close and were in the same company. Darcy was probably buried near the trench line but another 18 months of fighting across that battlefield meant that his grave, if it ever existed, was lost.
 
The 15th moved on towards Noreuil in April and Frank was hospitalised once again with influenza. While he was in hospital, the 15th was involved in the disastrous attack at Bullecourt where the battalion suffered over 700 casualties. Bullecourt marked the end of the Somme offensives and the entire AIF moved back to Belgium to prepare for the coming battles of the Passchendaele campaign.
 
The 15th battalion went into action at Messines in June and then moved south to Ploegsteert. On 23rdAugust, Frank was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. The battalion was back in action at Zonnebeke in October before the mud forced the closure of the Ypres front.
 
The winter of 1917 /18 was not as severe as the previous year and the soldiers were better provided with warm dry accommodation, sports and recreation, hot baths and leave. It was generally expected that the Germans, having a superior number of men as a result of the closure of the Eastern front, would stage a major assault in the spring of 1918. The AIF was positioned to meet such an offensive in the Ypres salient and throughout March 1918, the 15th Battalion was holding the line at Wijtschate south of Ypres.
 
When the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, began on 21st March, the main thrust of the offensive was along the Somme valley in France and the 4th Division of the AIF, which included the 15th, were rushed by bus south from Belgian Flanders to take up a line defending Amiens at Hebuterne, northeast of Amiens. The 15th hastily took up positions and almost immediately began to take heavy artillery and machine gun fire. During this period, it was reported that L/Cpl Frank Shaw was Killed in Action on 5th April 1918. Thomas Shaw stated on the Roll of Honour circulars for his sons that they were the fifth generation of the Shaw family to have served in the British military.
 
With the death of Frank, Thomas and Mary Shaw had lost three sons, George in 1916 aged 22, Darcy in 1917 aged 19 and Frank in 1918 aged 21. By 1918, Thomas and Mary were probably well appraised of the process of notifying next of kin and the winding up of affairs once death certificates were issued. Later in 1918, the personal effects of some 5,000 fallen servicemen which had been despatched from the Kit Store in London, including items belonging to Frank and Darcy Shaw, were lost when the S.S.Barunga was torpedoed off the Scilly Isles, all cargo being lost.
 
Neither Frank nor Darcy has a known grave. Their names are listed on the panels of the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux, with only one other name between them. Thomas and Mary Shaw left the Western Downs in about 1920 and retired to the bayside suburb of Manly in Brisbane.