Frank Albert Day – mascot to the 11th Battalion

Story by:- David McMillan

Truth can be stranger than fiction can’t it?  Frank Day’s life is stranger than most and shouldn’t be forgotten.

Mirror of Australia – Sydney, NSW 29 January 1916, page 10

Blackboy Hill was the Western Australian training camp established in 1914 to house local Australian Imperial Force (AIF) recruits before they left for the battlefronts in the Middle East and Western Europe.  Situated at the foot of the Darling Range just east of Midland Junction, troops were taken from Perth by train to the nearby station and marched into camp.

All these activities would have been a magnet for local children. One, in particular, 11-year-old Frank Day, who lived on nearby Bushby Street and became infatuated with the military camp. Members of the 11^th Battalion, the first battalion recruited in Western Australia and among the first infantry units raised for the AIF, became fond of Frank, adopted him as a mascot, and supplied him with the uniform of a Lieutenant Colonel.

The 11^th Battalion departed Fremantle in October 1914, and over the next year, a series of reinforcement companies were trained at Blackboy Hill and sent to Egypt. During this time, the 11^th was heavily involved in the ANZAC attack on Gallipoli until its withdrawal back to Egypt in December.

The battalion’s 10^th Reinforcements departed Fremantle on the 13^th of October 1915. Somehow, by means devious and cunning, the diggers evaded officialdom and smuggled Frank Day aboard their troop transport, HMAT Themistocles, and spirited him off to Egypt.

Frank was in Egypt for about six months. In March 1916 the 11^th, along with Frank’s mates in the 10^th Reinforcements, sailed for France and the Western Front. The authorities returned Frank to his parents in Western Australia.  He was later involved in some campaigns encouraging people to enlist.

The full story of this escapade will probably never be known. Frank didn’t speak about it in any detail to his family.  One newspaper reported that the Education Department permitted him to accompany the battalion to Egypt as their mascot, but is this likely??

HMAT Themistocles

Frank married a Boulder girl, Ina Dulcie VIGUS, in 1926 and worked and raised a family of 4 children in Kalgoorlie.  Ina was the daughter of Thomas Henry White VIGUS and May Jane CRAMLING. Ina’s siblings, also born in Boulder were Amy John and Winifred While working as a winch driver at the New Hope Gold Mine, Kalgoorlie, his coat was blown out by the wind and caught in the flywheel.

Kalgoorlie Miner, Thursday 30 September 1937

No one saw the accident – he was found lying dead beside the winch having sustained shocking injuries. He died on the 31^st August 1937, aged 33, and is buried in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery and memorialised on the Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial at the WA Museum, Kalgoorlie. Frank Albert DAY

Grave in Kalgoorlie Cemetery- Photo Find a Grave – Frank Albert age 33yrs and sons, Douglas Phillip age 4yrs. Neville age 1yr 8mths – Thomas John age 5 weeks.

Kalgoorlie Miner, Thu 2 Sep 1937

A section of the 11th Battalion at lunch at Blackboy Hill Camp

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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