Robert Matthew BEATHAM VC

Robert Matthew BEATHAM VC Update Details

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BEATHAM, Robert Matthew

Service Numbers:	2056, 2742
Enlisted:	8 January 1915, Geelong, Victoria
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	8th Infantry Battalion
Born:	Glassonby, England, 16 June 1894
Home Town:	Geelong, Greater Geelong, Victoria
Schooling:	Maughanby School, Glassonby, England
Occupation:	Labourer
Died:	Killed in Action, Lihons, France, 11 August 1918, aged 24 years
Cemetery:	Heath Cemetery, Picardie Plot VII.J.13., Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, Picardie, France
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Invermay State School No 882 Roll of Honor, Keith Payne VC Memorial Park, North Bondi War Memorial, Winchelsea WWI Memorial

World War 1 Service

8 Jan 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2056, Geelong, Victoria
17 Apr 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2056, 8th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: ''
17 Apr 1915:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2056, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne
15 Sep 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2742, 8th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: SS Makarini embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: ''
15 Sep 1915:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2742, 8th Infantry Battalion, SS Makarini, Melbourne
23 Jul 1916:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2742, 8th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières
9 Aug 1916:	Honoured Victoria Cross, Battle for Pozières
31 Jul 1917:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2742, 8th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres
8 Aug 1918:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2742, 8th Infantry Battalion, "The Last Hundred Days", --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2742 awm_unit: 8 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-08-11

WW1

The details provided are taken from the book "Stealth Raiders - a few daring men in 1918" written by Lucas Jordan, published 2017, refer page 262. Prior to the war he was a labourer of Geelong Vic. Enlisted 8 Jan 1915 aged 20 years. Allocated to 8th Battalion. Awarded the Victoria Cross and a Mention in Dispatches ( VC MID ). Unfortunately, he was Killed in Action 11 Aug 1918. Lest we forget.

Submitted 9 January 2020 by Maxwell HILL

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Biography contributed by Robert Kearney

Beatham, Robert Matthew (1894–1918)
by Roger C. Thompson

Robert Matthew Beatham, soldier, was born on 16 June at Glassonby, Cumberland, England, son of John Beatham, papermaker's foreman, and his wife Elizabeth, née Allison. While still in his teens he migrated with his brother Walter to Australia and was working at Geelong, Victoria, as a labourer when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 8 January 1915.

Beatham embarked for Egypt in April and was returned to Australia on medical grounds in July. He re-embarked in September with reinforcements for the 8th Battalion and six months later moved on to France where he was twice wounded in action—at Pozières in August 1916 and Passchendaele in October 1917. When the great Allied offensive was launched on 8 August 1918, his unit was among those ordered to advance from Harbonnières and capture the high ground of Lihons north of Rosières. On approaching this German strong point on 9 August the 8th Battalion, its supporting tanks knocked out by heavy artillery fire, was halted by a line of machine-guns. Private Beatham's company worked its way forward to enfilade the enemy position and, assisted by Lance Corporal W. G. Nottingham, he rushed forward and bombed the crews of four guns, killing ten men and capturing ten others.

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