Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918

The German offensive began on 21 March 1918, its full weight falling upon the extended British line near its junction with that of the French. This was far south of the sector held by the Australian Corps. Here men of the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company, which happened to be behind the sector attacked, wait near Le Sars, on the old Somme battlefield, for transport in which to move their equipment. Identified in the foreground, left to right: Driver J. Plummer (with cigarette in mouth); 553 Sapper David Archibald Fanner (foreground); Corporal S. Blight (behind Fanner).  Australian War Memorial E01860.

Fanner D  Sapper  553    David Archibald    No 1 Mining Corps    23    Carpenter and Joiner    Single    S Army

Address:    Maidstone, Burns St    

Next of Kin:    Fanner, Edith Victoria, Mrs, wife, Hart St, Euroa    

Enlisted:    27 Jul 1915        

Embarked:     A38 Ulysses 20 Feb 1916    

Fanner did his apprenticeship in Kensington

Relatives on Active Service:

Fanner-E-R-Pte-2314   brother

Fanner-G-W-Pte-2315  brother KIA

Fanner-S-J-Pte-50576  brother

Scanned from b/w photo . Back row left-right , David, George, Stephen & Harold. Front row Roberta, Fred (father & husband), Ernest, Jane (wife & mother) & Charlotte Fanner. Taken in Footscray in 1914.  Courtesy of Anne Briggs and Judith Palmer.

War Service Commemorated

Kensington Salvation Army Corps