WILSON, Robert Victor
| Service Number: | 662 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 September 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 10 March 1893 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Carter |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 30 June 1954, aged 61 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, Queensland Plot Columbarium 12, Section 5 |
| Memorials: | Annerley Stephens Shire Council Residents Honour Board 3, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, East Brisbane War Memorial, Enoggera Shire Council Roll of Honour WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 662, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 662, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 662, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 662, 15th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 20 Nov 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 662, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Feb 1917: | Imprisoned |
Help us honour Robert Victor Wilson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Robert Wilson was 21 years of age when he enlisted during September 1914. He was a member of the 15th Battalion, and went through the whole of the Gallipoli campaign unscathed up to the evacuation. He was awarded a
Later he was awarded a Serbian Silver Obilich Medal for Bravery for his distinguished service during the Gallipoli campaign.
Robert was recommended for conspicuous bravery at Pozieres when on 6 August he and a number of stretcher bearers worked for four days under extremely heavy shell fire to recover and remove wounded men, often carrying them for a over a mile under intense enemy barrages. No award was made.
He was again recommended at the end of August for great courage and endurance on 26-29 August 1916, again working for three days carrying wounded men under intense shell fire. Robert was awarded a Military Medal.
On 1 February, near Gueudecourt, the 15th Battalion attacked a section of the German front line known as Stormy Trench. Although the enemy trenches were occupied, inadequate artillery support and heavy German counter attacks caused the operation to fail. In the face of relentless German shelling of the captured trenches, the battalion was forced to retire the next morning. Although 52 German soldiers were captured, the 15th Battalion’s casualties were 33 men killed, 20 captured by the enemy and 87 wounded.
Robert Wilson was reported to have been left behind during the retirement as he stayed in a German dugout looking after badly wounded men who could not be moved. Corporal Wilson was stated to have been in charge of stretcher bearers during the raid.
He was kept in three prison camps while in Germany—Minden, Dulmann and Doeberitz the latter being “near Berlin.”
He was repatriated to England during December 1918 and returned to Australia during April 1919.
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