Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Date of Enlistment
- 09/06/1943
- Place of Enlistment
- Flaggy Creek, Queensland
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 21/03/1920
- Place of Birth
- Scottsdale, Tasmania
- Address (at enlistment)
- Canberra ACT
- School(s) Attended
- Hobart High School, Newcastle Boys' High School
- Occupation
- Clerk
- Next of Kin
- Son of Allan and Ethel French of King Street, Scottsdale, Tasmania. Brother of Sgt. Stanley French, 2/12 Battalion, killed in action Tobruk in 1941.
Unit and Rank Details
- Service Number
- NX153902 (N43872)
- Final Rank
- Private
- Final Unit
- 2/3 Australian Infantry Battalion
Fate
Died 26 February 1945 aged 23 years, New Guinea
Commemoration
AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 30, Canberra ACT
Notes
French arrived in Canberra from Tasmania before the war and played Australian Rules football for the Acton club. He enlisted in the 3rd Battalion (militia) on 22 April 1940 and went into camp at Bathurst. After further training French and his unit were sent to Port Moresby in May 1942. On 5 September 1942 the 3rd Battalion became part of Maroubra Force and French entered the Kokoda Trail. The 3rd Battalion was involved in battles at Imita Ridge, Templetons Crossing, Oivi and Gona up until December 1942 when French was hospitalised and returned to Australia. Laycock refers to being in hospital with French at Rouna Falls near Port Moresby after the Kokoda campaign. They knew each other from their school days as they had completed the Leaving Certificate together in Newcastle. According to Laycock, French was being treated for scrub typhus which he had contracted during the fighting in the Owen Stanleys.
The 3rd Battalion was merged with the 22nd Battalion in 1943 but then French was given the choice of staying in the militia or joining the AIF. He chose the AIF and joined the 2/3 Battalion on 3 July 1943. The 2/3 Battalion were sent to Aitape in New Guinea in December 1944. French was killed in action on 26 February 1945 when the 2/3 Battalion were fighting the Japanese in the Aitape-Wewak region.
Sources
WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
AWM Roll of Honour Database
AWM Roll of Honour Circular
Ken Laycock, 'Memories of a Militiaman', 1995 (typescript in ACT Heritage Library), p.70
NAA RecordSearch - Series B883 (Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947)
The Canberra Times - 5 April 1939, 26 April 1946