On 17 September 1918 the Geraldton Guardian reported that a “recent casualty list contains the name of Corporal F V Guest who was killed in action somewhere in France. Deceased, who was a native of Kent, England, was one of the first to enlist from Geraldton, and took part in the memorable landing at Gallipoli, afterwards proceeding to France. He was a prominent Soccer football player being a member of the Thistle team.”
Fred Guest departed England in November 1910 bound for the port of Fremantle. By 1914 he had moved to Geraldton for work and played for the Thistle club. On 21 August 1914 the club held a send off at the Club Hotel for Fred and two other Thistle players, John Allen and William Chapman.
The three team mates joined the 11th Battalion, C Company, and landed together at Gallipoli on the morning of 25 April 1915. On 29 June 1915 Guest was hit by a bullet in the thigh and was transported to Cairo to recover. He remained in the Middle East until June 1916 when he was transferred to France an joined the 4th Pioneer Battalion.
Lance Sergeant Guest was killed in action on 8 August 1918 in a field in France. Tragically, his two Thistle team mates did not survive the war either. John Allen was killed on 2 May 1915 at Gallipoli, William Chapman in a field in Belgium on 30 October 1917.