The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX72860) Private Frank Robinson Grimson, 2/28th Australian Infantry Battalion, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Tristan Rallings, the story for this day was on (NX72860) Private Frank Robinson Grimson, 2/28th Australian Infantry Battalion, Second World War.

NX72860 Private Frank Robinson Grimson, 2/28th Australian Infantry Battalion
DOW: 1 November 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Frank Robinson Grimson.

Frank Grimson, known to friends as “Clancy”, was born in Yeoval, New South Wales, on the 14th of July 1908, the third eldest son and reportedly one of ten children of Charles and Ethel Grimson.

Frank’s father, Charles, had served in the Boer War and the First World War. He first saw service in the Eastern Transvaal and Eastern Orange River Colony with the 3rd Mounted Rifles in 1901 and 1902, and then put down his age in order to enlist in the First World War, earning a Distinguished Conduct Medal for conspicuous gallantry on Gallipoli. After receiving a gunshot wound to the foot in June 1915, he spent several months in hospitals in Alexandria and Cairo before returning to Australia with a medical discharge.

In the 1930s, the Grimson family lived in Orange, engaged in farming. In October 1931, newspapers announced that the mutilated remains of a murdered adult male found at Wallacooloobie in North Queensland had been identified as those of Frank Robinson Grimson. Frank had disappeared about a year earlier while taking horses north to Quilpie station, and his relatives feared the worst when they heard of the unknown man’s body being found. Frank was missing the middle toe of his right foot and had two of his teeth covered with amalgam, but the remains were too badly charred and mutilated for accurate identification. Regardless, his father was notified that Frank’s body had been found … before it was learned some weeks later that Frank Grimson had been located elsewhere.

Frank’s father died on 20 October 1939, not long after the announcement of Australia’s involvement in the Second World War.

Frank Grimson enlisted for service in May 1941 at Sydney. Giving his occupation as “master bootmaker”, it wasn’t long before he was allocated to an ordnance store in Liverpool and appointed bootmaker.

After a period of pre-embarkation leave, he embarked for overseas service on 28 June 1941, landing in the Middle East a month later.

In early February 1942, Grimson gave up his role as bootmaker and transferred to an Ordinance Store Company. In June he was earmarked for reinforcements to the 2/13th Battalion, but by early August he was part of the 2/28th Battalion.

The 2/28th Battalion had been serving in a garrison role in the aftermath of the Syria–Lebanon campaign. Midway through the year, however, German and Italian forces began advancing towards Egypt, and the battalion moved to the Western Desert, where it had taken part in the First Battle of El Alamein in July. After Grimson joined the 2/28th in September, it returned to the front line, taking part in the Second Battle of El Alamein on 23 October. It conducted raids behind German lines before moving into the main area of operations around a position dubbed “the Saucer” on 31 October.

Between July and November 1942, the Australian 9th Division suffered almost 6,000 casualties. Among the dead was Frank Grimson, who died of wounds on 1 November 1942. He was 34 years old, and was survived by a large family, including three brothers who were serving in the Second Australian Imperial Force.

Today his remains lie in the El Alamein War Cemetery, under the inscription chosen by his grieving family: “His duty nobly done”.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Frank Robinson Grimson, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section