HARDY, Robert Cyril
| Service Number: | 2778 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 12th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 26 June 1894 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Peters Collegiate School and Roseworthy Agricultural College Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Winemaker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 7 May 1917, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
Grevillers British Cemetery Grevillers British Cemetery, Grevillers, Picardie, France, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board, North Adelaide St Peter's Cathedral WW1 Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 2778, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Star of England embarkation_ship_number: A15 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 2778, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Star of England, Adelaide | |
| 7 May 1917: | Involvement Corporal, 2778, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2778 awm_unit: 12th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1917-05-07 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
From the book Fallen Saints
Robert Cyril Hardy of Mile End was born at Bankside Vineyards, Underdale South Australia in 1894. He was educated at Thebarton public school and the Collegiate School of St Peter where he served in the junior and senior cadets. After leaving the School, he completed a three-year course at Roseworthy Agricultural College before joining the firm of Thomas Hardy and Sons as a Vigneron. At the time of enlistment he was a serving member of B Company, 76th Infantry and although offered a commission shortly before enlistment turned it down to join the AIF.
Robert enlisted at Keswick on 8 June 1915 and while inn transit with H Group, Infantry Base Depot at Mitcham until he joined the 9th quota of reinforcements for the 12th Battalion as a provisional corporal.
Corporal Hardy sailed from Adelaide aboard HMAT Star of England and when taken on the strength of the 12th Battalion at Mudros on 27 November was reverted to his substantive rank of Private.
After the Gallipoli evacuation and returned to Egypt aboard HMT Lake Michigan where on 20 March he was appointed lance corporal. He was promoted to temporary corporal in September, and after surviving the carnage of battle was struck down with influenza in late November.
He returned to the battalion at the beginning of January 1917 and a month short of his 23rd birthday was severely wounded in the jaw on 6 May and died at 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station the next day.
Witness Statements [i]
When interviewed in June 1917, Private Allen Seymour said he saw Robert wounded in the back at Bullecourt, but he was able to walk with assistance to the advanced dressing station, about a mile away. ‘He died about 24 hours afterwards. I saw his grave at Fremicourt, and it was marked by a cross bearing his number, name and unit. I knew him well, he came from South Australia and he was the only man of that name with the Coy.’
In September 1917, Private Richard Duance who claimed to have known Robert well said he was in C Company. ‘His father has large wine cellars in Adelaide. I saw his grave at the C.C.S. at Bapaume in May. There is a cross with his name, number, and other particulars on it, I could point it out.’
Private Lyndsay Lockwood also interviewed in September said he saw his grave close to a dressing station outside Bapaume. ‘Cross with name up. I came over from Australia with him, and was looking for someone else’s grave, when I found his.’
Robert’s cousin, Lieutenant Tom Hardy (OS), 3rd Light Horse Brigade, Machine Gun Squadron was wounded in action in 1917 but returned to Australia after the war.
[i] Australian War Memorial, Australian Red Cross wounded and missing enquiry bureau files – Hardy, Robert Cyril / 1270211, viewed 5 October 2005
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