Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

10/07/1915

Date of Discharge

13/07/1919

Place of Enlistment

Melbourne, Victoria

Gender

Male

Other Name(s)

Also known as Thomas Alfred Billett

Date of Birth

27/01/1897

Place of Birth

Moss Vale NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Power House (Kingston) ACT

Occupation

Plumber

Next of Kin

Benjamin Naveau (father), Power House, ACT

Service Number

4065

Final Rank

Driver

Final Unit

5 Division Ammuniton Column AIF

Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance, Crawford St, Queanbeyan NSW

Frank Naveau was a plumber who had arrived in Canberra by May 1912 with his father and family (including his brother Bert). He is shown in a group photo of plumbers employed in the construction of the Royal Military College, Duntroon during 1912-14.

He was only 18 years old when he enlisted in July 1915 in Melbourne but he was soon after transferred to Langwarrin Isolation Camp in Victoria. In December he deserted and enlisted in Adelaide on 7 December 1915 as Thomas Alfred Billett and served with the 5th Division Ammunition Column. On 13 December 1916 he was court martialled for possessing a camera and for sending photographs through the post contrary to General Routine Orders. He rejoined the 5th Division Ammunition Column in August 1917. Naveau was formally discharged on 13 July 1919 and joined the Royal Fusiliers to serve with the Russian Relief Force fighting the Bolsheviks. He also served as a Lieutenant in the Army Service Corps in World War 2 and as a Hornsby Shire Councillor. Naveau died at his home in Sydney on 7 October 1971.

The AWM photographs show Naveau on a training exercise with the 5th Pack Transport Company of the Australian Army Service Corps in the Barrington Tops, New South Wales during World War 2.

Description - height 5 feet 2½ inches, weight 133 pounds, chest 32-36 inches, clear complexion, hazel eyes, light brown hair, Methodist, mole on his right hip.

Our Queanbeyan 'Boys' No.2, Howard & Shearsby, Yass (postcard)
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Queanbeyan Age - 13 October 1916, 18 November 1919, 19 November 1919
Sydney Morning Herald - 8 October 1971
Canberra & District Historical Society, photograph 1043
AWM Collections Records : 064637, 064638, 064639, 064648, 064649, 064652, 064655 (photographs), PR89/032
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)