Pte Frank Roberts 1st Bn Newfoundland Regiment

[michaeldr]

Name: ROBERTS, FRANK

Initials: F

Nationality: Canadian

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: Newfoundland Regiment

Unit Text: 1st Bn.

Age: 23

Date of Death: 23/10/1915

Service No: 383

Additional information: Son of Samuel and Julia Roberts, of 120, Hamilton St., St. John'S, Newfoundland.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: IV. A. 10.

Cemetery: HILL 10 CEMETERY

Country: Turkey

Location Information: The Anzac and Suvla cemeteries are first signposted from the left hand junction of the Eceabat- Bigali Road. From this junction travel into the main Anzac area. Located South West of Azmak and North of the Salt Lake, the cemetery will be found on the left, 21.5 kms from the junction.

Historical Information: The eight month campaign in Gallipoli was fought by Commonwealth and French forces in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war, to relieve the deadlock of the Western Front in France and Belgium, and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea. The Allies landed on the peninsula on 25-26 April 1915; the 29th Division at Cape Helles in the south and the Australian and New Zealand Corps north of Gaba Tepe on the west coast, an area soon known as Anzac. On 6 August, further troops were put ashore at Suvla, just north of Anzac, and the climax of the campaign came in early August when simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts. The aim of the Suvla force had been to quickly secure the sparsely held high ground surrounding the bay and salt lake, but confused landings and indecision caused fatal delays allowing the Turks to reinforce and only a few of the objectives were taken with difficulty. Hill 10, a low isolated mound to the north of the salt lake, was taken by the 9th Lancashire Fusiliers and the 11th Manchesters on the early morning of 7 August 1915. The cemetery was made after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from isolated sites and from the 88th Dressing Station, 89th Dressing Station, Kangaroo Beach, 'B' Beach, 26th CCS and Park Lane cemeteries. There are now 699 servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 150 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate a number of casualties known or believed to be buried among them. No. of Identified Casualties: 549

[details and photograph from the CWGC]