Frederick Alfred Abrahams was born in 1891 in St Kilda, only son to Golda (née Brasch) and Louis Abrahams, who owned a prosperous Melbourne
cigar-making business, Sniders and Abrahams. Louis was a patron of the Heidelberg School of Art and the model for many paintings. Frederick attended the prestigious Methodist school, Wesley College, from 1902 to 1909. Louis died tragically in 1903 and eventually Golda, Frederick and his sister went to England to visit his married sister in England prior to the outbreak of war.

Whilst residing in Kensington, London, he enlisted in the BEF on 4 November 1915, aged 24, in the 1/16th Battalion (Queen's Westminster Rifles) of the London Regiment: No. 4684 Rifleman Frederick Alfred Abrahams. He met the unit in France, then rebuilding in preparation for the Battle of the Somme. On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, 13 divisions of British Empire forces launched an offensive on a 30 km front, NE of Amiens. The 56th Division, which included the 16th London of 169 Brigade, attacked the German defences on the northern edge of the battlefield. Losses were catastrophic and, with minimal advances on the southern flank, the attack proved a failure.

The division moved south at the beginning of September, supporting the 16th Division to the south of their target, the village of Ginchy. On the evening of 9 September, the 16th London battalion was sent forward to assist in the attack on Leuze Wood and Loop Trench. It did not arrive until 11pm, whereupon the decision was made to await daylight. At 7am the next morning, they attacked south-east towards Combles. The covering artillery barrage was weak and did not dislodge the enemy from its defensive positions so, when they moved forward, they were confronted by heavy machine-gun fire and made no progress. At 3pm they tried again after a Stokes mortar barrage but - although they gained 100 yards - were later pushed back by shellfire. That evening the remnants of the battalion were relieved and the division took Ginchy. The battalion’s casualties were over 300, one of whom was Rifleman Frederick Abrahams, aged 25, Killed in Action on 10 September 1916. His body was not identified. The Battle of the Somme eventually ended on 18 November with the onset of winter.

The massive Thiepval Memorial, Picardie, France, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces, who died in the Somme sector and have no known grave; it is the largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing, of whom over 90% died between July and November 1916. The name of Rifleman Frederick Alfred Abrahams is inscribed on Pier and Face 13C, one of over 300 names with no known grave of the 422 men from the 1st/16th London Regiment, who died on the Somme.

In 1923, Frederick’s aunt established a scholarship in his name at Wesley College, Melbourne.

Frederick Alfred Abrahams was born in 1891 in St Kilda, only son to Golda (née Brasch m. Great Synagogue, Sydney, 21 March 1888) and Louis Abrahams, who owned a prosperous Melbourne cigar-making business, Sniders and Abrahams, in Drewery Place off Lonsdale Street. Louis (b. 1852 England) was an art patron, some-time painter and etcher, associated with the Heidelberg School of art, that he also supplied with many cigar-box lids for painting impressions. He was the model for many famous paintings, including Tom Roberts's 1886 painting The Artists' Camp with Frederick McCubbin, and the disheartened swagman in the 1889 painting Down on His Luck, by McCubbin, whom Louis named his son after, in reciprocation.

Frederick attended the prestigious Methodist school, Wesley College, from 1902 to 1909. Tragically, Louis briefly suffered from depression and died (of suicide) aged 51 in 1903, (the same year that he was one of the members of St Kilda Hebrew Congregation seeking its reform) and one of Frederick’s three sisters died in 1908, aged 16. Eventually Golda, Frederick and his unmarried sister went to England to visit his married sister, prior to the outbreak of war.

He was residing in Kensington, London, when he enlisted in the BEF (British Expeditionary Forces) on 4 November 1915, aged 24, in the 1/16th Battalion (Queen's Westminster Rifles) of the London Regiment: No. 4684 Rifleman Frederick Alfred Abrahams. The unit had already been in France for more than a year when he joined it with other reinforcements, likely in the Hallencourt area, as preparations began for the Battle of the Somme, and it seems he transferred from B to D Company.

On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, 13 divisions of British Empire forces launched an offensive on a 30 km front from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt, 40km NE of Amiens. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched, and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance. The 56th Division, which included the 16th London of 169 Brigade, attacked the German defences on the northern edge of the battlefield: losses were catastrophic and, with only minimal advances on the southern flank, it was a failure. In an attempt to exploit the modest successes of that first day, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed over the following weeks. The 56th Division remained in the Gommecourt sector until they moved south to where the battle was raging at the beginning of September. Meanwhile, the 1st Australian Division had attacked Pozieres in the middle sector of the battle front.

After the capture of Guillemont on 3 September, the next target for the British was the village of Ginchy, by the 16th Division on 9 September - with 56th Division supporting them to the south. The detail task of 16th Division on that afternoon was to form a defensive flank along the slopes of the Combles Ravine, whilst 5th London attacked the sunken road that lay between Leuze Wood and Combles. This involved a flank attack through the wood and resulted in some very heavy fighting, but they were unable to dislodge the enemy from Loop Trench. Eventually, those who still could, had to retire back to the wood. That evening, the 16th London battalion were sent forward to assist in the attack on Leuze Wood and Loop Trench but did not arrive until 11pm, when it was decided to wait for daylight. At 7am on 10 September, they attacked south-east from Leuze Wood towards Combles. The covering artillery barrage was weak and did not dislodge the enemy from their defensive positions, so when they moved forward, they were confronted by heavy machine-gun fire from Loop Trench and the sunken Combles Road, thus making no progress. At 3pm, supported by a company of 2nd London, they tried again after a Stokes mortar barrage, but - although they gained 100 yards - they were later pushed back by shellfire. That evening the remnants of the battalion were relieved and moved back to the Citadel, and the British ultimately took Ginchy. The battalion’s casualties for the engagement amounted to over 300, one of whom was Rifleman Frederick Abrahams, aged 25, who was Killed in Action on 10 September 1916, but - like most of the dead - his body was not identified.

At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured: the village had been an original objective of 1 July. Attacks to the north and east continued throughout October and into November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme eventually ended on 18 November with the onset of winter. In March 1917, the German forces fell back to their newly prepared defences - the Hindenburg Line - and there were no further significant engagements in the Somme sector until the Germans mounted their major spring offensive one year later.

On the high ground overlooking the Ancre River, Picardie, France, where some of the heaviest fighting of the First World War took place, stands the Thiepval Memorial: towering over 45 metres in height, it dominates the landscape for miles around. As the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, it bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave: it is the largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing in the world. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. The name of Rifleman Frederick Alfred Abrahams is inscribed on Pier and Face 13 C, one of over 300 names of 422 men from the 1st/16th London Regiment who died with no known grave.

POSTCRIPT

In 1923, Frederick Abrahams’s aunt established a scholarship in his name at Wesley College. Frederick's widowed mother remained in London till she died.
Louis Abrahams’s personal art collection was passed down to his grandson - Frederick’s nephew – famous architect Sir Denys Lasdun, best-known for designing the Royal National Theatre complex on London's South Bank.