30285
ANTONY, Francis
| Service Number: | 678 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 September 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Trooper |
| Last Unit: | 1st Remount Unit (AIF) |
| Born: | 1865, place not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Laborer |
| Died: | Hypostatic Pneumonia, Port Augusta Hospital, South Australia, 16 June 1956 |
| Cemetery: |
Port Augusta Carlton Parade Cemetery RC Block 38, Grave 14 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 678, 1st Remount Unit (AIF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 678, 1st Remount Unit (AIF), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '24' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
| 12 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 678, 1st Remount Unit (AIF), HMAT Orsova, Melbourne | |
| 16 Jun 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, 678, 1st Remount Unit (AIF) | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Trooper, 678 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Paul Lemar
Francis ANTONY was born to Manuel and Ellen ANTON in 1864.
Francis ANTONY (also spelled ANTONY no E) joined the AIF on 27.09.1915 and was allocated service number 678. He was appointed to the 3rd Squadron, 1st Remount Unit. He returned to Australia on 02.06.1916 and was discharged on 16.06.1916. It is noted on his file he was discharged due to unit being disbanded.
He served in Egypt. He was obviously illiterate as his signature bears ‘his mark’.
ANTONY again joined the AIF on 20.06.1916 for service in Australia only and was posted to Torrens Island. He gave his age as 51. He was discharged on 31.08.1916 at his own request and declared that he had been rejected for service as he was too old.
The distinguished reputation of Australian horses in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns was in no small part due to the work of the remount units, which were responsible for their training. When the Light Horse left for Gallipoli in 1915, they left behind detachments to take care of the horses. To free these men to re-join their regiments, two remount units were formed in September 1915, each of four squadrons. The maximum age for enlistment was set at 50, and the units contained a high proportion of Boer War veterans and expert horsemen. By the time they arrived in Egypt however, the evacuation of Gallipoli was imminent. Accordingly, at the end of March 1916 the units were reduced by half, each contributing two squadrons to a single remount unit. Later in the year, the unit was further reduced to two squadrons, and became the Remount Depot. Although based in Egypt, in late 1917 the depot delivered remounts to the Palestine front by driving them across the Sinai, overlanders style in order to save scarce rail transport, and so is credited with participation in the Palestine campaign.
1st Remount Unit (Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania)?Formed Melbourne 21 September 1915. Departed Melbourne Orsova 12 November 1915. Consolidated with 2nd Remount Unit 1 April 1916. Re-designated Remount Depot 2 October 1916
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