Frank Shaw was born in Hastings, Sussex, later relocating to Monmouthshire to find employment in the industrial valleys. He enlisted into the 12th (Service) Battalion (3rd Gwent), South Wales Borderers, deploying early in the war and arriving in France in July 1915.

Throughout December 1917 and January 1918, his battalion—operating as a frontline attack unit within the 40th Division—held a dangerous, cold sector in the lines directly west of Cambrai. This area saw constant attrition following the major tank battles of the previous autumn.

Private F Shaw (17668) sustained severe battlefield injuries during intense winter trench service during the Battle of Cambrai and succumbed to his injuries on 4 February 1918, aged 28. He is buried in Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension, France. This specific site was chosen as it sat immediately adjacent to the concentrated railheads and casualty clearing stations managing frontline evacuees.