LITTLE, Robert Hugh
| Service Number: | 4152 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 October 1915, Sydney, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Stranraer, Scotland, 18 February 1881 |
| Home Town: | Neutral Bay, North Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tram Conductor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 3 May 1917, aged 36 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France, Queant Road Cemetery, Buissy, Nord Pas de Calais, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, North Sydney Tramways Pictorial Honour Roll, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4152, 17th Infantry Battalion, Sydney, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 4152, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of England embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 4152, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of England, Sydney |
Help us honour Robert Hugh Little's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Nathan and Margaret LITTLE
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Robert Hugh LITTLE (Service Number 4152) was born on 18th February 1881 at Stranraer, Scotland. He began working for the NSW Tramways as a casual conductor in Sydney on 7th July 1913. he was made permanent a year later. It was from that position that he was released to join the Expeditionary Forces on 20th October 1915.
Little enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showground at Moore Park, sydney, a few days later. He gave his brother, also living in Sydney, as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 10th Reinforcements of the 17th Battalion. He embarked on HMAT ‘Star of England’ at Sydney on 8th March 1916.
After further training in Egypt, and transfer to the 18th Battalion, he embarked on HMT ‘Megantic’ at Alexandria on 28th May 1916 at Alexandria and reached Plymouth (England) on 7th June. He proceeded overseas to France in September and was taken on the strength of the battalion in Belgium on 24th September.
He died in action on 3rd May 1917.
Private Waterworth (4253) gave the only account of the death:
‘I knew Little well. He was killed at Bullecourt, carrying stuff up for use when we went over. I did not see him fall, but his body was found, and he must have died instantly. I was hit soon afterwards. Little was very well liked. He was one of the real white men. He and I used to live together at Neutral Bay.’
He was buried in the vicinity of Bullecourt, near the Hindenburg Line, though the location of this grave was lost, and he is now remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
Robert Little’s brother Gunner William Bradford Little, (Service Number 12719) served in the 1st Brigade, Field Artillery, and their brother Nathan was next of kin to both men. William Little survived the war and returned to Australia. He had contracted Tuberculosis and died at Woodville Red Cross Home, Randwick on 30 May 1921.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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