Private Frederick Charles Vassel

[TimPowell186]

Frederick Charles Vassel served with the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion and was killed 14 July 1918.

 

I am not familiar with Australian records - he was born around 1886 in Sydney, is there a way of working out who is parents were?

 

Thank you

[HarryBrook]

Frederick and Tirzah

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/576886/VASSEL, FREDERICK CHARLES

[TimPowell186]

Thanks - should have thought of that myself

[clk]

Hi,

 

He's got a 62 page service record, available to see online (free) at The National Archives of Australia.

 

Regards

Chris

[Colin W Taylor]

Tim

 

The AIF have quite comprehensive service records which survive and have been digitized. If memory serves they can be accessed through the  Australian War Memorial (www.awm.gov.au) which also includes embarkation rolls and other items which should include next of kin data.

 

Kind regards

 

Colin

[KevinBattle]

His records have been digitised and can be read, copied and pasted into a Word etc document

For starters:

VASSEL Frederick Charles: Service Number - 6948 : Place of Birth - Sydney NSW : Place of Enlistment - East Sydney NSW : Next of Kin - (Father) VASSEL Frederick

 

CWGC have this:

VASSEL, FREDERICK CHARLES. Rank: Private. Service No: 6948. Date of Death: 14/07/1918. Age: 31.
Regiment/Service: Australian Infantry, A.I.F. 20th Bn. 
Grave Reference: XX. A. 10. Cemetery: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX MILITARY CEMETERY.
Additional Information: Son of Frederick and Tirzah Vassel, of 1, Wellington St., Waterloo, Sydney, New South Wales. Born at Sydney, New South Wales.

[TimPowell186]

Thank you both. I'm very impressed with what has been saved - handwritten letters from his mother asking for a copy of his death certificate and how he died. Also the list of personal effects sent back to his mother and father. Also found his brother and moving outside the scope of this forum his father's naturalisation application. A wonderful resource.

[KevinBattle]

Tim, just a couple of things that may help

His hospital admission is marked NYD (Not Yet Diagnosed) and therefore is more likely to refer to Ventricular Disease (of the heart). Those initials have caused consternation in other cases where relatives have thought he'd been a naughty boy....

You'll also note his mother was asking for his DC "for the lodge" which is clarified later as being the Ridgely Lodge, Independent Order Of Foresters, a form a mutal insurance ans savings club, so they needed the Death Certificate to pay his parents any insurance payout.

..... 

You also noted he was in C Company and his Serjeant was W H Tonkies, who isn't in the CWGC database and therefore was lucky to survive.

[TimPowell186]

Sorry dodgy internet connection here and couldn't work out how to delete the second post. Very happy with the response though and I've been able to work out the Vassel family. Such a privilege to read the chain of correspondence. I was also surprised at the speed the news was received back in Andover - the diary entry for Charles Richard Green 22nd July "sad news of my nephew Charley Vassel, killed at front line, France" only a week later. His brother Herbert was in hospital in Britain at the time recovering from a gsw. Herby visited his uncle Charles the following month.