1914-15 Star : Private F R Kerr, 12 Light Horse Regiment, AIF

Places
Accession Number REL34664.001
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Medal
Physical description Bronze
Maker Unknown
Place made United Kingdom
Date made c 1920
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

1914-15 Star. Impressed reverse with recipient's details.

History / Summary

Service medals of 1603 Lance Corporal Frederick Raymond Kerr, born Winton, Queensland; a grazier from Inverell, NSW who enlisted on 20 July 1915 aged 22. Kerr, who had listed ‘horsemanship’ amongst his abilities, was posted to 12 Light Horse Regiment (12 LHR) as part of their 6th Reinforcements and embarked for overseas service from Sydney on 2 October 1915 aboard RMS Moldavia. Upon his arrival in Egypt, Kerr was assigned to 1 Troop, B Squadron, 12 LHR. He contracted enteric fever in early March 1916 and did not rejoin his unit until the end of April. Kerr was seconded to 4 LHR on 25 February 1917 to attend a Hotchkiss machine gun course at Moascar, rejoining his unit two weeks later. During the Es Salt raid in the Jordan Valley on 20 April 1918, Private Kerr was shot in the chest. It took almost ten days to get him to hospital in Port Said. He returned to his unit on 19 June after hospitalisation and a month in the Rest Camp at Moascar. Kerr was promoted to Lance Corporal on 1 August 1918. However, his service record reveals that his wound kept him in and out of rest camps until early 1919, when he was taken off strength from 12 LHR with ‘debility’ on 9 February. Fred Kerr returned to Australia aboard the Euripides, disembarking at Sydney on 20 April 1919. He settled in Tulley, Qld. His daughter relates that he was in Townsville during the Second World War on the night of the first Japanese bombing raid (25-26 July 1942) where the sudden shock triggered a stroke. The family moved to Ashgrove, Brisbane and after recovery, Fred volunteered for service with the State Emergency Service, acting as a Air Raid Precaution (ARP) Warden for Ashgrove. He was additionally employed as an Inspector for the Department of the Army Inspection Branch, regularly visiting and checking the quality of military clothing at Brisbane and district clothing factories.