MOFFATT, Robert Thomas
| Service Number: | 27567 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 May 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Bombardier |
| Last Unit: | 10th Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia, December 1894 |
| Home Town: | Gaffneys Creek, Mansfield, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Engine driver |
| Died: | Caulfield Military Hospital, Victoria, Australia, 21 September 1929, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fawkner Memorial Park Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 9 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 27567, 14th Field Artillery Brigade | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1916: | Involvement Gunner, 27567, 14th Field Artillery Brigade , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1916: | Embarked Gunner, 27567, 14th Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Borda, Melbourne | |
| 8 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Bombardier, 27567, 10th Field Artillery Brigade , 3rd MD |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From How We Served
The final resting place for; - 27567 Bombardier Robert Thomas Moffatt of Charters Towers, Queensland, and Gaffney Creek, Victoria, had been employed as an engine driver when he enlisted for War Service on the 9th of May 1916 at the age of 21.
Having been accepted, Robert was posted to reinforcements for the 14th Field Artillery Brigade 1st AIF and was embarked for England and further training on the 20th of October.
Following his safe arrival Robert entered into camp at Lark Hill on the 2nd of February 1917, and once deemed ready to be sent to the trenches, Robert was moved to Folkstone, from where he would then proceed to France, departing England on the 5th of June.
By the 10th of June Robert had arrived in France and was sent to join the 4th Division Artillery Column, with which he was officially taken on strength with on the 20th of June.
Robert was transferred to the 10th Field Artillery Brigade on the 20th of July and would be with his Unit when it was committed to the ‘Third Battle of Ypres’ in October and where it would take up positions in the vicinity of Zonnebeke.
Robert would come through some of the heaviest fighting In Belgium seemingly unscathed, and his service in the field would be continuous, aside a short respite away from the Front for Leave in August to September 1918.
Having served throughout Belgium and Northern France from the time of his arrival from England, Robert was promoted to the rank of Bombardier on the 3rd of November 1918, just over a week before the Armistice was signed on the 11th of November 1918.
With the War now over, Robert again was availed a short respite of Leave during March 1919 to Paris, and following his return to his Unit from Leave Robert began his official repatriation back to Australia on the 20th of May, when he was returned to England.
On the 12th of July, Robert was embarked for his return voyage to Australia, where he arrived back on the 24th of August, and would receive his official discharge from the 1st AIF for his re-entry into civilian life on the 8th of October 1919.
By 1929 Robert was residing in West Brunswick, Victoria, when he was admitted into the Caulfield Military Hospital for medical treatment, and whilst still a patient at Caulfield, Robert’s death occurred on the 21st of December 1929 at the premature age of 35.
Following his untimely passing Bombardier Robert Moffatt, who had served continuously for nearly two years in the trenches of ‘The Great War’, was formally interred within Fawkner Memorial Park Cemetery, Victoria.
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