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He served for four years, from 24th May , until 13th April as part of the 26th Infantry Battalion, and he is best known for his involvement in the Gallipoli conflict. Both of his parents Ellen and Frank Owen, were of Aboriginal descent, but unfortunately, there is no documentation of which First Nations group they were from.
Frank was born in May his age at enlistment was 36 years and 11 months. He had 12 other siblings, one of whom also joined the military. Despite being from the South Australian town of Robe, he enlisted in Gympie, Queensland under service number on the 23rd of April There is no evidence to suggest why Frank went all the way to Queensland to enlist, though he may have been refused entry to the Australian Imperial Force AIF in South Australia due to his Aboriginal background, which was a common occurrence.
Once enlisted, he and his Battalion soon began their training at the Enoggera Barracks, a military base in Enoggera, Brisbane, Queensland. He appeared to have become separated from his comrades after attacking a trench. He was taken to headquarters to be tried by drumhead court-marital, which is a military court that attends to urgent charges committed in action. Later on, Frank found himself not enjoying the trench life and volunteered for sniping work.
The article also explains that during this time, he had many near-death experiences. He eventually returned to Egypt after about four months, on the 4th of January, Just a few days before the Gallipoli campaign ended. Whilst back in Egypt, Frank was absent without leave for about a day and a half, from 6 am on the 6th of April until pm on the 7th of April He had broken out of his camp and attempted to steal and sell military equipment riding breeches and proceeded to resist his arrest and refused to provide his name to the commanding officer in charge.
