Person:Frank Vickery (1)

Frank VICKERY was born the ninth child of Frederick and Wilhemina at Blackwood, South Australia. Frank worked on a dairy in Cue, Western Australia and in a mine at Coolgardie.

The First World War broke out and the enlistments were performed in alphabetical order. Frank was so eager to enlist that he told them his name was HICKORY, due to them only processing up to the H's at the time and Frank could not wait for the V's. His embarkation record shows he joined on the 27th November 1914 and embarked from Adelaide aboard the transport ship HMAT A59 "Botanist" on the 2nd June 1915. During the war, he served in the "3rd Light Horse Regiment" as a Private. After having spent time on Gallipoli and in Egypt, he was invalided home on the 17th July 1916. The story about his war injury was told to me as being. "He was blown up and buried alive in Egypt." That injury was directly responsible for the epileptic fits he often suffered in later life. His army records show that he suffered from acute cerebal seizure.

Frank married Doris Kent ELLIOTT (daughter of Arthur James and Esther ELLIOTT) on the 29th May 1920 in Adelaide. At that stage she was working as a Law Clerk in Adelaide and living at Parkside. They settled on an 83 acre dairy (i have a photo of the house) at Meadows on Mill Street, just behind the Anglican Church that his grandfather had built. It appears that Frank was not a "farmer" and this caused the farm to deteriorate. His "Federal Income Tax Return" of 1921 shows that he had 10 cows, 2 horses and 20 pigs.

While at Meadows, Frank was a keen sportsman playing cricket and football. They had 5 children being 2 boys and 3 girls.

Doris passed away 18 years later at the age of 49. After her death, Frank moved to Adelaide and for about nine months his children were divided among Frank’s relatives. They were reunited and Frank rented a house in George Street, Norwood for about two years. Frank became a cricket umpire when he was living in Adelaide. He even umpired Women's State Matches in which his daughter Nora played.

Frank went back into the Army as a corporal during the Second World War. This time he didn't change his name but he did adjust his birth date. As a "cook", he worked at Keswick, Warradale and the Victoria Park Race Course. After a period of five years he was discharged on the 21st August 1945.

After renting the house in George Street for about two years, Frank purchased the house at 35 Chapel Street, Norwood. When the war finished, he became a cleaner at the Adelaide General Post Office. This was the job that he maintained for the rest of his life. Frank moved in with his daughter Dorothy after her husband James had passed away in 1951. He stayed there for about two years and then rotated between Dorothy's and his daughter Rae's house. He was known to his grandchildren as Pa.

(Information from Grantley Hutchens)