Died game? There is a haunting song by The Fureys appropriately titled The Green Fields of France:

Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside?
And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,
Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did the play the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fir o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugles sound The Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in 1916,
To that loyal heart are you forever 19?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

The sun's shining down on these green fields of France;
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.
The trenches have vanished long under the plow;
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard that's still No-Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.

Every time I see or read anything about those men it brings tears to my eyes.

Thank you for the marvellous research, and for putting together such a moving, thought-provoking 'essay'. I was so impressed that I registered to join ToffeeWeb, as soon as I'd finished reading it, at about 3:00 am this morning.

ps: I do not think that Donald Sloan is a relative.

Michael
The Fureys did a very good cover of the song. It's actually called 'No Mans Land' written by Scotsman Eric Bogle but the Fureys changed the title and is now commonly known by it. Bogle also wrote 'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' which is as good, if not better song, about the Anzac troops at Gallipoli, and covered by, among others, The Pogues.

I read the letter from Frank's brother with a tear in my eye.

Many thanks Pete so well written and exceptionally researched.

Michael - many thanks for your post - finished off this excellent article perfectly.

Thanks to TW for continuing to allow these wonderful articles.

Truly moving and poignant, excellent addition as well Michael, surely you have to put these into print some day.

Eternal thanks to all those blokes (my Great Grandad included) who gave everything so we might live.

We make a point of remembering him and all our family soldiers every 19th July. Lest we forget

Michaela; I hope that you approve of the article. I'll pass on your thoughts next time I go to Fromelles and visit the memorial that bears Frank's name.