Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

The Gallipoli Campaign was fought on the Gallipoli peninsula 25th April 1915 to 9th January 1916. in a failed attempt to defeat Turkey by seizing the Dardanelles and capturing Istanbul. Ill-conceived and planned, the initial effort by the Royal Navy failed to force passage through the Dardanelles by sea power alone. It was then realised that a land force was needed to support the project by suppressing the Turkish mobile artillery batteries. By the time all was ready the Turks were well aware and well prepared. Despite amazing heroics on the day of the landings only minor beachheads were achieved and over the succeeding 8 months little progress was made. Eventually the beachheads were evacuated in a series of successful ruses.

Despite Gallipoli rightly becoming a national source of pride to Australians and New Zealanders, far more British casualties were sustained, and these days the substantial French contribution is almost forgotten.

Detail :

Anzac Officers Died at Gallipoli: Names Index C - D - Major Frank CHAPMAN (Queen's South Africa Medal & 1 clasp. Mentioned in despatches), Auckland Mounted Rifles, NZEF. Born Richmond, Surrey, England. Single; Sheep Farmer, of Opotiki, New Zealand. Next of kin: Brother; Ernest Edward Chapman, of same address. Killed in action on Rhododendron Ridge, northern Anzac, on 8 August 1915, aged 57. No Known Grave.

May have been the eldest or amongst the eldest to die at Gallipoli, more certainly in the NZ contingent.

"In May 1915, the regiment, with the rest of the brigade, was warned to prepare to embark for the Gallipoli Campaign, serving in a dismounted role as part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). A rear party remained behind to look after the horses while twenty-six officers and 482 other ranks boarded the transport ships. On 12 May they landed at ANZAC Cove and the next day took over from the Royal Naval Brigade in the front line.[16] The regiment was responsible for the section of the front known as "Walker's Top" and "The Nek", opposite what was possibly the strongest Turkish position, only fifty yards (46 m) away.

They defeated their first Turkish attack on 18/19 May, when their position was subjected to small arms fire from midnight until 03:00. Then the Turkish troops assaulted "Walker's Top" and "Quinn's Post". The attack lasted an hour, and cost the regiment twenty-two dead and twenty-seven wounded, but they held the position. On 22 May they were relieved by the 9th Light Horse Regiment, and moved to the rear. In June the regiment repeatedly moved between front and rear area positions, and was not involved in a major battle. With Mackesy ill, Major Frank Chapman arrived from Egypt on 25 May to assume command of the regiment. He was followed five days later by one officer and 107 other ranks as reinforcements. He was followed, five days later, by one officer and 107 other ranks of reinforcements. The situation remained the same in July, and another two officers and ten men arrived to replace casualties.

August saw the regiment involved in the largest engagement of the campaign, at Chunuk Bair. After successfully capturing a Turkish position at "Old No.3 Post" on 6 August, they fought off several counter-attacks, until 9 August, with a strength of only sixty-six men from the 310 who started the battle, they were withdrawn to a rear area. Their casualties were fifty-seven dead, 144 wounded and twenty-seven missing in action."

Masonic :

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley