Real Name: HERRING, Frank Valentine
Rank: Private
Regimental Number: 1041
Place of Birth: Melbourne, Victoria
Address: Canning Road, East Fremantle, Western Australia
Next of Kin: Stepfather, John Hugh Gracie
Enlistment Date: 26 April 1915
Unit Name: 25th Battalion B Company
Age embarkation: 29
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Brewer
Date of Death: 4 August 1916
Place of Burial:
Links:
History
Frank's father was Charles Higgins Herring, who married Elizabeth Gertrude Ryan in Melbourne in 1884. Frank was born in 1886, his sister Eva Agnes in 1888. Their father died a fortnight before Christmas that year. Their mother then married John Hugh Gracie, master brewer, in Tasmania in 1894 and came to Western Australia with him. In 1900 he bought the Castlemaine Brewery in East Fremantle, and turned it into a great success. In 1907 Elizabeth bolted, heading to the eastern states leaving the children with John Gracie. He divorced her in 1909 and she did not defend the action. The children called themselves Gracie, were sent to good colleges (Eva went to Loreto, spoke five languages and became a highly respected teacher) and no expense was spared on their upbringing (Frank became a renowned yachtsman in WA, all the way down to Albany where he won the Commodore's Trophy). They were very close to John Gracie and had nothing to do with their mother. When Frank left school he apprenticed with his stepfather as a brewer, then in 1913 left WA to take a job in Queensland, where he enlisted in April 1915. Taken into 25th Battalion, B Coy, they sailed from Brisbane on 29 Jun 1915. Frank served at Gallipoli in the machine gun section, before the battalion left Egypt and arrived at Marseilles on 19 Mar 1916. During his time in Egypt Frank was fond of a bit of AWL: four days at Tel-el-Kebir in Jan 1916, court-martialled in March for escaping confinement (though he spent 28 days in the cells awaiting trial, so the sentence was quashed). In France in May he was AWL five days and earned a harsh two years imprisonment with hard labour. He would never go to prison: he was KIA on 4 Aug 1916. Apparently his stepfather did not know of his death, because he responded to an advertisement for NOK. His estranged mother Elizabeth, in Melbourne, also responded, and continued to write incoherent and passionate letters demanding Frank's effects, his Will and his deferred pay. After a significant investigation by the Military Police, the authorities decided that his sister Eva Gracie would receive his effects, scroll, plaque, and medals.
Reference: WFDWA project by Shannon Lovelady
John Hugh Gracie (stepfather) is featured on The Notable and The Notorious.
