WW1 union formed on Western Front lives on in Adelaide love story more than 80 years after guns fall silent

CHANCE meeting at Adelaide RSL leads to love and a uncovers families’ remarkable fighting history on World War 1 battlefield.

Moira and Paul Coppock of Ferryden Park, Paul is a Vietnam veteran and is holding a photograph of his Grandfather Frank Coppock, who fought in World War One and served in World War Two. Picture: Stephen Laffer

WHEN Paul Coppock and Moira Gladys met at the Woodville RSL in 2001, the pair felt an instant connection.

They quickly discovered they shared mutual friends and had shared long family histories of military service.

The friendship blossomed and they were soon married.

A decade later they discovered their most remarkable connection of all.

Mr Coppock’s great-grandfather, Frank Coppock, and Ms Gladys’ grandfather, Frederick Baird, fought together in World War I.

“Paul and I knew of Frank Coppock’s involvement in World War I, but it wasn’t until I went through my mum’s records last year that I found a piece of paper with Frederick’s details on it,” Ms Gladys, 69, of Ferryden Park, says.

“It led us to his war records and it confirmed that Frederick fought alongside Frank.

“Paul and I were absolutely gobsmacked.”

Frank Coppock, a bottle blower from Bowden, was 18 when he was posted to the 43rd Battalion in June 1916.

Baird, who lived on Grote St and worked as an engineer, was 44.

The pair disembarked from Adelaide on the Afric on June 9, 1916.

Their battalion landed briefly in Eygpt before moving to the Western Front in December.

The pair survived the German offensive at Villers-Bretonneux and fought in General John Monash’s big push at Hamel in 1918.

Ms Gladys says her grandfather died in Adelaide in 1920 from unknown causes.

Despite being hit by shrapnel in Flanders in 1917, Coppock survived the war and served as an army reservist at the Keswick barracks throughout World War II. He died in 1952.

Paul Coppock continued his family’s tradition of military service when he served in Vietnam.

“The military has been a big part of our family history, but I can’t believe the connection extends this far,” Mr Coppock, 66, says.

“It is truly remarkable.”

THIS story is part of Messenger’s 100 Years, 100 Days, 100 Stories project, which will profile 100 South Australian World War I heroes as the nation builds up to the centenary of the Allied landing on Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. If you have the details and war record of a family member who served during World War I, let us know. Please go to your local Messenger’s Facebook page and send us the details.

Originally published as WW1 union formed on Western Front lives on in Adelaide love story more than 80 years after guns fall silent