The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1344) Sapper Frank Gilbert Cook, 3rd Field Artillery (Army) Brigade Signal Sub-Section, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (1344) Sapper Frank Gilbert Cook, 3rd Field Artillery (Army) Brigade Signal Sub-Section, First World War.

1344 Sapper Frank Gilbert Cook, 3rd Field Artillery (Army) Brigade Signal Sub-Section
DOW 23 June 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Sapper Frank Gilbert Cook.

Frank Cook was born on 1 June 1889 in Baddaginnie, near Benalla in north-eastern Victoria, the son of Frederick and Maria Cook. His parents had emigrated to Australia from England in the 1850s, where they met and married in 1873. Settling in the small rural town, the Cooks owned and ran the local store. They also began a family, Frank being the eighth of 12 children. When he was still a young boy the family suffered twin tragedies, losing Allan and Arthur in infancy in 1895 and 1897.

Frank and his siblings attended Baddaginnie State School. The family was actively engaged with the Methodist Church, participating in Sunday school and church functions in which Frank and his sisters would sometimes perform recitals. As he grew into a young man, Frank left home to attend Continuation School in Melbourne. He also gained military experience as sergeant major of the school’s Senior Cadets. Later, he found was employed as a clerk and an accountant at the Commonwealth Audit Office in Melbourne. He was living at Moonee Ponds in the city and still at the Audit Office when war broke out in August 1914.

Frank enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 14 August 1915 at the age of 26. Initially made a sergeant due to his pre-war militia experience, Frank spent the first ten months of the war in Australia at recruit training depots in Melbourne and Seymour, and attending training schools at Broadmeadows and at Duntroon in the Federal Capital Territory. Eventually he was assigned to reinforcements for the 38th Infantry Battalion and departed Melbourne on board the troopship Runic on 20 June 1916.

Frank suffered from measles on the sea voyage, but had recovered by the time he arrived in England on 10 August. In November 1916 he was transferred to the artillery, and then two weeks later to the Australian Flying Corps, becoming a cadet and beginning instruction at the Royal Flying School of Military Aeronautics in Reading. But due to an injury, by August 1917 he had returned to his old unit. Still seeking a different challenge, Frank asked to be demoted to private so he could join the Signals Engineers. This was granted and after training in Shefford for a further three and a half months he was sent over to France where he joined the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade Signal Sub-Section before Christmas 1917.

Frank was in France as the war climaxed in the spring of 1918. At the end of March, the Germans launched a series of offensives to try and force an end to the war. Desperate days followed as the allies were stretched to breaking point, but by the summer of 1918 the Australians were holding the line on the Somme, protecting the vital town of Amiens.

Artillery was key to the defence and the guns relied on signallers to maintain lines of communication. That was Frank’s job and sometimes it took him into harm’s way. On 15 June 1918 he was hit by a shell, probably long-range German counter battery fire. Frank suffered severe wounds to his face, neck and shoulder and was taken to a casualty clearing station and then to No. 6 General Hospital at Rouen. He but died of his wounds there on 23 June.

He was buried at St. Sever Cemetery Extension on the banks of the River Seine. He was 29 years old.
When word of Frank’s death reached home, the family was devastated. His elder sister, Lilly, voiced a touching tribute to her little brother.

We longed for your return, Frank,
We wanted to clasp your hand; But God has willed it otherwise;
We will meet in a better land …

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.
This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Frank Gilbert Cook, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Craig Tibbitts
Historian, Military History Section