Identity
Person No.
3584
Service No.
93978
Last Name
First Name
Frank Eric
Initials
F E
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
24
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,780
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action. In the North Italian village of Carpane on 27 September 1944 the Germans executed 16 Allied soldiers captured fighting with Italian partisans in that area. Escaped with other South Africans from a nearby POW camp and joined up with local partisans to carry on fighting the Germans. They became such a thorn in the flesh of the Germans that a special operation was mounted in the Monte Grappa region to capture them. They were eventually captured and murdered by the Germans. Every year on this day since the end of the war the villagers of Carpane have held a memorial service at this spot by the side of the road where they were killed. For many years the identity of the 16 was not known and the monument was simply inscribed to "16 unknown". It was only about 4 or 5 years ago that their identity was uncovered by Sonia Residori, an Italian academic researcher
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Unit History
Role at time of death
Mounted Rifles, later Armoured Reconnaissance
Status
Volunteer unit (pre-1913); Active Citizen Force (Reserve) from 1913
Part of
Lineage from the Royal Durban Rangers (1854) through several volunteer mounted units, unified as Natal Mounted Rifles 1888. Reactivated for the Boer War as Natal Mounted Infantry. Transferred to the Active Citizen Force 1913; converted from cavalry to armoured reconnaissance 1934. Renamed Queen Nandi Mounted Rifles 2019.
Notes
Son of Arthur William and Cornelia Margaretha Chambers, of 5th Avenue, Durban, Natal, South Africa. Born Touws River, Cape Province. A clerk, working for the SAR&H, and lived in Donnybrook, Natal.
Citations
Unknown
External References
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