Pte James FRITSCH

[Andrew P]

Pte James FRITSCH died on the 7th of September 1915 while in the 16th Depot in Bendigo.

He had a Meningicocal infection which led to respiratory & heart failure.

Fritsch had not yet been allocated to an infantry battalion for service overseas yet he had been assigned a service number.

He was born and lived in Nhill Victoria where he was a bootmaker.

He was buried in Bendigo Cemetery.

Lest we forget

[frev]

Thanks for the posting Andrew

Some small comfort perhaps - that James was spared the horrors of war before his death!!

I'll keep an eye out for his grave next time I'm at Bendigo Cemetery.

Lest we forget.

[Andrew P]

Hi Frev

I noticed that there was another Fritsch who died in Victoria. He belonged to the 7th Battalion and died from diabetes in 1916 aged only 20.

Not sure whether the two men were related though.

Cheers

Andrew

[Dolphin]

Andrew

Thank you for the post. It was a good reminder that not all casualties were the result of enemy action.

Gareth

[frev]

Hi Frev

I noticed that there was another Fritsch who died in Victoria. He belonged to the 7th Battalion and died from diabetes in 1916 aged only 20.

Not sure whether the two men were related though.

Cheers

Andrew

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Andrew

You sent 'curious Frev' off on a little expedition. Couldn't actually find a connection (though with such a rare surname it's highly likely) - but established they weren't brothers or father/son. It appears they might have both been in the Bendigo Camp at the same time though.

The interesting thing is that James Fritsch who died 7/9/15 wasn't actually allocated with the service no. 2661 - the CWGC got that wrong! That no. was allocated to Leslie Fritsch (whom you refer to in above quote) - and according to Leslie's death certificate (a copy of which is in his records) & the AWM HRoll, he died 16/7/16 - the CWGC also got that wrong - they show 19/9/16.

Anyway, Leslie, who'd enlisted in July 1915, got as far as Egypt before he contracted diabetes mellitus & was shipped home (where he died). He's buried at Brighton Cemetery - so I'm adding him to my list of graves to visit there - hopefully before the end of the year.

Two more brave men remembered

- both buried under the Southern Cross - rather than a foreign land far away.

Cheers, Frev.

[Andrew P]

Great research Frev I didn't pick that CWGC mix up.

I guess that some small comfort for their relations would have been the ease of visiting their graves in Australia rather than faraway Europe or the Mid East.

Cheers

Andrew