Private Frederick Stanley Salmoni
Herb Oliver PSMFred was one of the first Australian soldiers to land at Gallipoli on the 25th April 1915—he was killed a few hours later at Shrapnel Gully on the 26th April 1915.
Although Fred Salmoni received a Christian burial, during the Gallipoli campaign, the site of his grave was lost and his name appears on the Lone Pine Memorial at Gallipoli. His name is also recorded in the Memorial Room in the old Isis Shire Chambers at Childers, the Booyal Central State School, the War Memorial at Gin Gin (now part of the Bundaberg Regional Council area) and the War Memorial in Mulgrave Street (though incorrectly spelt as F Salmond).
Fred was also the first soldier from Booyal and possibly the Isis Shire to be killed at Gallipoli.
Prior to coming to Booyal, Fred Salmoni was a resident of Cardiff in Wales, United Kingdom. Fred was one of the first volunteers from Booyal to enlist.
Before Fredrick joined the AIF he had selected land in the Goodnight area, in the parish of St Agnes, which was then in the Perry Shire, later transferred to the Kolan Shire circa 1914/5, which probably explains why his name is shown on the War Memorial at Gin Gin.
Photo: Herb Oliver PSM , son of Private George Oliver, at the Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli, where L/Cpl F S Salmoni was killed on the 26th April, 1915. Credit: Greta Keating
We were at Shrapnel Valley on the 24th April 2015, almost exactly 100 years after L/Cpl Fredrick Salmoni was killed here and received a Christian burial. the site of his grave was later lost during the eight months of fighting on Gallipoli. L/Cpl Salmoni is remembered on the Lone Pine Memorial for soldiers with unknown graves, Gallipoli.
