Private Francis Edgar Mason

Francis (Frank) Edgar Mason was born in Numurkah, Victoria, in 1893. He enlisted in the First World War on 28 April 1915, joining the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance, 1st Australian Division. At the time, he was 21 years old and a bootmaker. Frank spent the majority of his 1124 days abroad as a stretcher-bearer on the Western Front. Following a gas attack in late 1917, he developed bronchitis and myocarditis. He was classified B.2.B., medically unfit, and returned to Australia on 15 March 1918. He was discharged on 24 July 1918. Frank married his wartime fiancée Annie Gee soon after demobilization. He returned to his pre-war career as a bootmaker, purchasing two bootmaker’s shops in Essendon. In 1947 his wife was killed in a holidaying accident on the Gippsland Lakes. Ten years later he married Gwendoline McBride, and they lived together in North Essendon until his death, on 10 April 1976.