ROBINSON, Edward Ernest
| Service Number: | 2974 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 59th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Stanmore, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Brick Layer |
| Died: | Acute Colitis, New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia, 5 March 1919, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
South Head General Cemetery, Vaucluse, New South Wales |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 2974, 59th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, 2974, 59th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Sydney | |
| 5 Mar 1919: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 2974, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2974 awm_unit: 59th Battalion 5th Division Traffic Control awm_rank: Lance Corporal awm_died_date: 1919-03-05 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Edward Ernest ROBINSON (Service Number 2974) was born about 1869. He worked in the Permanent Way section of the Railways as a bricklayer. He worked on the railway between Kiama and Nowra and on the duplication between Bowral and Exeter. He gave his ‘Trade or Calling’ on his Attestation Papers as ‘bricklayer’ – a skill much required in per-way work at the time.
He declared himself to be 44 years and 6 months old on enlistment in September 1916, but his death certificate shows him to have been 50 in 1919 He was married and gave his wife Emily Louisa as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 59th Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Afric’ at Sydney on 3rd November 1916 and reached Plymouth (England) on 9th January 1917. After further training with the 15th Training Battalion, Robinson proceeded overseas to France and was taken on the strength of the 59th Battalion on 25th March 1917. In May he was hospitalised with PUO (Pyrexia [fever] of Uncertain Origin) and this led to a series of admissions to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station, the 2nd Canadian Stationary Hospital, the 7th and 10th Convalescent Depots and the 3rd Rest Camp before he re-joined the Battalion on 21st June 1917.
In July he was detached for duty with the Assistant Provost Marshall 5th Division Pioneers. In October he was promoted to Lance Corporal and in November transferred to the 5th Australian Division Traffic Control. On 28th June 1918 he had another admission to hospital with PUO and DAH (Disordered action of the heart). This time the sequence of medical units was the 15th Australian Field Ambulance, the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station, the 5th General Hospital, the 2nd Convalescent Depot, the 6th General Hospital, the Hospital Ship ‘Essiquibro’ and the Bath War Hospital in England. By this time it was 10th July 1918 and he was described as being ‘dangerously ill’.
He recovered by August and was transferred to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield and then to No. 2 Command Depot for return to Australia on HMAT ‘Sardinia’ and discharge. He reached Sydney on 31st December and was discharged from the AIF in consequence of medical unfitness on 19th March 1919 (although he had already passed awat). His medical files from this time (1918) show his age at last birthday as 49 years, so it may be guessed that the 44 years offered by him on enlistment was untrue.
Robinson died at the Western Suburbs Cottage Hospital, Enfield, on 5th March 1919. He was buried at the Church of England Cemetery, South Head. His death certificate shows him to have been 50-years-old.
He had four children, Edith (28 years), Harold (25 years), Ethel (25 years) and Florence (17 years).
Harold James Robinson, Edward’s son, also served in the Great War. Both men served in the 59th Battalion and had adjacent service numbers, (2967 and 2974). Harold was a bricklayer like his father and worked with him on railway projects. The 1914 and 1917 NSW Government Gazette lists of the railway and tramway staff show him as working on the Bowral to Exeter Duplication, and serving with the AIF in 1917. He survived the war.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.