COTTER, Thomas Francis

  1. Service Details
  2. Personal Details
  3. Unit and Rank Details
  4. Fate
  5. Commemoration
  6. Awards and Honours
  7. Notes
  8. Sources

Service Details

Branch of Service
Army
Conflict
World War I (1914-1918)
Date of Enlistment
08/09/1916
Place of Enlistment
Goulburn NSW

Personal Details

Gender
Male
Other Name(s)
Known as 'Frank'
Place of Birth
Michelago NSW
Address (at enlistment)
Naas via Tharwa ACT
School(s) Attended
Michelago Public School, Naas School
Occupation
Labourer
Next of Kin
Son of Michael and Ellen Cotter of Naas, Tharwa via Queanbeyan NSW
Burial Place

France 441 Premont British Cemetery

Unit and Rank Details

Service Number
4634
Final Rank
Sergeant
Final Unit
2 Machine Gun Battalion AIF

Fate

Died of illness (diphtheria) in France, 7 December 1918 aged 22 years

Commemoration

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 175, Canberra ACT
World War 1 Memorial, corner of Lowe St and Farrer Place, Queanbeyan NSW
Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance, Crawford St, Queanbeyan NSW
Michelago Public School Honor Roll
Michelago District Roll of Honour World War 1, Ryrie Street, Michelago

Awards and Honours

Military Medal

Notes

Cotter was a grandson of Garrett Cotter after whom the Cotter River is named. Though probably born at Michelago in 1897 he grew up at Top Naas. He tried for 18 months to get his elderly parents' permission to enlist before they reluctantly did so because of his age and because they needed him to work their property. He enlisted in September 1916 and embarked for England with reinforcements to the 30th Battalion in November 1916.

Cotter arrived in France in October 1917 and fought with the 22nd Machine Gun Company and later the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, both part of the 2nd Division, at Ribemont and Ypres in 1917 and Albert, Villers Bretonneux and Mont St. Quentin during 1918. On 29 November 1918 he was admitted to hospital at Bohain with diphtheria and died on 7 December 1918. Cotter was buried at Premont Military Cemetery and posthumously awarded the Military Medal. His brother James Cecil Cotter served in World War 2 and his cousin John McNamara served with the New Zealand army in World War 1.

His citation for the Military Medal (dated 24 September 1918) states; "for his good work of the last six months as gun commander. Often working independently, he has carried out his work with disregard of personal danger, especially in reconnaissance for good positions for his gun."

Description - height 5 feet 9 inches, weight 143 pounds, chest 35-39½ inches, dark complexion, hazel eyes, black hair, Catholic.

Sources

AWM Roll of Honour Database
AWM Roll of Honour Circular
AWM Honours & Awards
First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Queanbeyan Age - 7 November 1916, 24 December 1918, 9 February 1919, 30 May 1919
Queanbeyan/ Canberra Advocate - 9 November 1916
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'Cotter Boys from Tharwa to France', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
Photograph courtesy of Mrs. C. Cotter, Michelago

Create Certificate
Frank Cotter, ca. 1916. Image courtesy of Mrs. Colleen Cotter.

Frank Cotter, ca. 1916. Image courtesy of Mrs. Colleen Cotter.

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