S5499
SONNEMANN, Frederick Henry
| Service Number: | 1904 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 April 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 41st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Petersburg, South Australia, Australia, 19 December 1896 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Springbank, Adelaide, South Australia, 12 November 1961, aged 64 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1904, 2nd Depot Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 1904, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ballarat, Adelaide | |
| 12 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 1904, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Ballarat embarkation_ship_number: A70 public_note: '' | |
| 24 Nov 1916: | Transferred Private, 41st Infantry Battalion, After training in England, 41st Battalion departed Southampton for France on 24 Nov | |
| 20 Mar 1917: | Promoted Lance Corporal, 41st Infantry Battalion | |
| 6 Jun 1917: | Wounded 41st Infantry Battalion, Battle of Messines, Gassed and shell shock. Transported from Calais. Admitted to 1st London General Hospital on 10 Jun. In Sep moved to 3rd Aux Hospital at Dartford. | |
| 19 Apr 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Medically Unfit [not due to misconduct] Returned to Australia on HT "Port Darwin" disembarking 04 Mar 1918 |
Help us honour Frederick Henry Sonnemann's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Jennifer Harris
FREDERICK HENRY SONNEMANN, nicknamed Mick by his siblings, was born on 19 Dec 1896 at Petersburg, the fifth of eight children of Franz Otto Sonnemann and Marie Wilhelmine Caroline Sonnemann nee Lauchs.
Unmarried, clerk, aged 19 he enlisted in the AIF in Apr 1916. His mother, Mary Sonnemann, residing at 17 Magill Road, Stepney was nominated as next of kin. Initially assigned to 2/43rd Battalion, he was moved to 41st Battalion after training in England. 41st Battalion left Southampton on 24 Nov 1916 bound for France and engagement in fighting on the Western Front. In Dec 1916 and Apr 1917, FH was admitted to hospital with PUO fever and mumps. FH was seriously wounded in action at the Battle of Messines on 6 Jun 1917. Suffering from gas poisioning and shell shock, he spent five months recovering in hospitals in Wandsworth and Dartford before being sent back to Australia in early 1918, medically unfit.
In Mar 1918 FH spent a week at Mannum as a guest of the Mannum Welcome Home Committee. Prior to enlistment he had beeen employed by Messrs. David Shearer & Co. as a clerk. His name is inscribed on the Mannum Roll of Honour.
On 9 Jan 1919 FH enlisted in the Citizens Forces, Australian Army Pay Corps. Service No. 212. He was Acting Staff Sergeant. Discharged on 13 Mar 1920 from Keswick Barracks.
FH was a witness at the wedding of his sister Florence May Sonnemann to Herbert Walter Rettig [43rd Battalion] on 18 Nov 1919 at St. Paul's Church Adelaide.
In the 1920s Mick was involved in his older brother Alec's business F A Sonnnemann Limited based in Renmark.
During World War Two, FH was an investigation officer with the South Australian branch of the Commonwealth Prices Commission.
Aged 47, FH married Edna Bertha Fisher on 24 Sep 1943 at St. Andrew's Church, Walkerville. For many years he resided at Glenunga in Adelaide.
A TPI pensioner, Mick died at the Repatriation General Hospital in Springbank in 1961, aged 64.
Note: During World War One, some members of the Sonnemann family [the descendants of Franz Heinrich Sonnemann of Hahndorf] anglicised their German surname by dropping the last 'n'. NAA records show Frederick Henry enlisted as Sonnemann in 1916, but was discharged as Sonneman in 1918.