SHRIMPTON, Francis John (1894-1918).JPG)
F J Shrimpton (Shrimpton Family).
Francis John Shrimpton known as ‘ Jock’ was born on 1 May 1894, the son of Francis John Shrimpton and Minnie Eliza nee Carter. He was enrolled at Geelong College in 1903. His father was a music teacher at Geelong College.
He was for a time employed at the Geelong branch of the Commercial Bank, and at the time of his enlistment he was in an insurance company’s office in Melbourne. He enlisted in the AIF on 17 August 1914 as a Private in 6 Battalion, and embarked for Egypt, and ultimately Gallipoli with his unit. On 1 May 1915 (his 21st birthday) he was promoted Corporal, and seven days later was severely wounded at Cape Helles, and evacuated to England.
After several months in hospital he returned to Egypt as Sergeant. He went on to France where, after one hundred days’ continuous service in the trenches, he was offered the chance to attend an Officers’ School. After nine months in England he was promoted 1st Lieutenant 6 Battalion attached 2nd Australian Trench Mortar Battery.
Ron Austin described part of his service in his book
As Rough As Bags:
‘The communication trenches were almost non-existent, hence any ration or working parties moving up to the front line were under constant enemy observation. During the morning of 15th August (1916), four Vickers guns and four Lewis guns from the 1st Pioneer Battalion, were brought forward to support the battalion. The enemy shelling continued throughout the day and denied the men any chance of sleep. The battalion was ordered to dig a strong point, and during the night of 16th August, twenty men of C Company, led by Lt ‘Jock’ Shrimpton, moved out under the protection of a screen of bomb throwers and Lewis guns, and dug and occupied the strong point.’
Ron Austin then told the story of a raid on 11 November:
‘(Shrimpton) saw a soldier lying on the parapet of Fritz’s Folly. The white patch worn on the back of the tunic identified him as an Australian. Shrimpton turned to Sgt Barker and said, 'Sergeant, one of our men out there is still alive, but I am too frightened to go out.' After thinking it over for a moment or two, Shrimpton responded to the challenge and said, “' must go!' As he crawled across No Man’s Land, luck was with him as the deadly machine-gunners failed to notice him. Upon reaching the Australian, he found him to be dead, so he retrieved his identity disc and safely returned to the battalion lines. It was actions such as Shrimpton’s that helped bond the officers and men of the Sixth into such a cohesive and formidable fighting unit.’ Ron Austin spoke of ‘Jock’ Shrimpton’s death:
‘A day or so before his death, Colonel Daly received a message from the CO of an Irish Guards battalion to whom Lt ‘Jock’ Shrimpton was attached as a Trench Mortar Officer. The message read, 'Your Lt Shrimpton is doing magnificent work.' A further message was received on 15 April, which read, 'I regret to inform you that your gallant Lt Shrimpton was killed this morning.' Shrimpton was later described as ‘a gentle and kind man whose sole concern was the welfare of his platoon’. Although only aged 21 in 1916, ‘he had won the respect and confidence of us all’. He died on 15 April 1918 of wounds suffered at Harbonnieres and was buried at Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery - Grave III.E.23.
A new AIF policy introduced in December 1916, permitted the transfer of younger brothers to their elder’s battalion. One of the first to take advantage of this new policy was Private Thomas James ‘Little Jock’ Shrimpton, who transferred from 14 Battalion, to serve in C Company with his brother ‘Jock’. His brother, L/Sgt ‘Little Jock’, Thomas James Shrimpton returned to Australia, embarking on 12 June 1919.
Sources: Based on an edited extract from Geelong Collegians at the Great War compiled by James Affleck. pp109-110 (citing on Austin, As Rough as Bags: The History of the 6th Battalion, 1st AIF, 1914-1919; C E W Bean, The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18: Vol. V The AIF in France 1918; Commonwealth War Graves Commission; Photo Shrimpton Family.)