Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Robert Strain, born on the 17th of February 1895 in Glasgow, Scotland, was the eldest child of his parents, Lillian Gardiner and her husband, also named Robert Strain. At the age of 16, he migrated with his family to Adelaide, South Australia, settling in the suburb of Unley. They arrived at Port Adelaide in 1911 aboard the Zealandic. Prior to enlistment on 10th of September 1914 Robert worked as a Driver.

Strain joined the 9th Light Horse Regiment and embarked for training in Cairo, Egypt, arriving on the 14th of March 1915. Soon after, the regiment sailed for Gallipoli, landing in May. On the 7th of August 1915, his brigade was the reserve force during the disastrous attack on Nek, but fortunately, they did not forward into this battle. Later, the regiment was committed to the last phase of the offensive battles, which tragically resulted in 50% casualties. Now exhausted, the regiment played a defensive role until finally withdrawing from the peninsula on 20 December 1915.

After regrouping in Alexandria, Strain served in the long advance across the Sinai desert that drove the forced Ottoman troops back to the Palestine frontier by late 1916. He took part in the capture of Jerusalem and various Turkish outposts in December 1917, and in May 1918, he participated in the Es Salt raid, which aimed to disrupt Ottoman supply routes and communication. In August 1917 he was sent to rest camp for a break before reporting back to duty.

On the 23rd of June 1918, Strain was reported for being drunk wile on service and forfeited 7-days pay. In May 1919 Strain was admitted to hospital for an unknown illness. He returned to Australia 10 July 1919on transport ship HT Oxfordshire.s

After the war, Strain went on to marry Myrtle Strain and raise two children: Robert Strain and Martha Holmes Barratt (Strain) Rendall.

Robert went on to live to the age of 95 and passed away on the 24th of May 1990, being laid to rest at Centennial Park Cemetery.