Skip to main content
state library of queensland
Blog
John Oxley Library

Frederick TEARE #3496

By Marg Powell & Des Crump | 4 February 2019

Frederick Teare 5th Light Horse Regiment

Frederick Teare, 5th Light Horse Regiment. The Queenslander Pictorial, 8 December, 1917

Indigenous Australian, Frederick Teare, 5th Light Horse Regiment

Frederick Teare was born on Barwon Station, Qld in 1889. When he stepped forward in July 1917 to volunteer with the first AIF, he named his brother Jack (John) as his next of kin.

After Fred enlisted at Mackay he traveled to Brisbane where he trained at Rifle Range camp, Enoggera Barracks. There he was finally assigned to the 30th Reinforcements for the 5th Light Horse Regiment. They departed from Sydney aboard the troopship 'Ormonde' with another Indigenous serviceman, Sid Roberts #3491, Frank Balser #3469, and George West #3497 arriving in Egypt in April 1918.

5th Australian Light Horse Regiment, crossing the Jordan River, April 1918

The 5th Australian Light Horse Regiment crossing the pontoon bridge at the Ghoraniye Bridgehead, Jordan River, Palestine, April 1918. Image courtesy Australian War Memorial, accession B00007, photographer unknown.

They underwent further training at the 2nd Light Horse Training Regiment based at Moascar, before joining the regiment in the field in July, twelve months after enlisting.

At this time the 5th Light Horse were stationed in Palestine, undertaking patrols in the Gharaniye region, south of Jericho. Teare remained with the Regiment without incident until the end of the war and returned to Australia in early August 1919.

Frederick Teare returned to live and work in north Queensland for many years after, up until his death in 1955.

Records from the Queensland State Archives show that members of his immediate family were scattered throughout the state. His father Donald was a police tracker at Mt Coolan, brother Sandy was sent to Cherbourg, sister Ruby to Woorabinda, and brother Alex to Palm Island.

Jack Teare was granted exemption from the protection of the state in 1916 and like his brother Fred, worked as a stockman on properties in the Clermont area.

Read more ...

The information in this blog post has been researched by State Library staff and volunteers, it is based on available information at this time. If you have more information that you would like to share or further research uncovers new findings, this post will be updated.

Comments

Your email address will not be published.

We welcome relevant, respectful comments.

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
We also welcome direct feedback via Contact Us.
You may also want to ask our librarians.