Wilfred RODDA

RODDA, Wilfred

Service Number: 6861
Enlisted: 10 November 1915
Last Rank: Gunner
Last Unit: 23rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade
Born: Daylesford, Victoria, Australia, 31 October 1894
Home Town: Thorpdale, Baw Baw, Victoria
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Bank Clerk
Died: Died of illness contracted in France in 1916 while on active service' , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 October 1918, aged 23 years
Cemetery: Warragul Cemetery, Victoria, Australia
Memorials: Thorpdale War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

10 Nov 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 6861, 4th Field Artillery Brigade
18 Nov 1915: Involvement Gunner, 6861, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: ''
18 Nov 1915: Embarked Gunner, 6861, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne
14 Mar 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Gunner, 6861, 4th Field Artillery Brigade, embarked Alexandria for Marseilles
16 Jul 1916: Transferred AIF WW1, Gunner, 23rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade
14 Jan 1917: Embarked AIF WW1, Gunner, 6861, 23rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade, embarked Southampton for Melbourne on board HS Kanowna
18 Apr 1917: Discharged AIF WW1, Gunner, 6861, 23rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade, Discharged as permanently unfit (Medical Board)

Help us honour Wilfred Rodda's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed

Please note: VWMA wishes to advise that the Australian War Memorial has Private Rodda on its list for further investigation for eligibility to be included on the Roll of Honour.

The research and approval process will take some time, and VWMA will be informed of any progress made.

 

VWMA Team  4 November 2024

Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Gunner Wilfred Rodda (Service No:6861) served six months with the Militia's 72nd Infantry Battalion before enlisting in the AIF on 10 November 1915. Gunner Rodda was attached to 4th Field Artillery Brigade when he embarked with his Unit from Melbourne for Suez on 18 November 1915 on board HMAT A18 Wiltshire. Gunner Rodda embarked from Alexandria for Marseilles on 14 March 1916, and was in France when he was transferred to 23rd Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade. Seriously ill with pleurisy, Gunner Rodda was evacuated on 26 October 1916  to Fargo Military Hospital in England, and embarked from Southampton for Melbourne on 14 January 1917 on board HS Kanowna. Assessed as 'permanently unfit' by the Medical Board, Gunner Rodda was Discharged on 18 April 1917.

Wilfred was born in Daylesford, Victoria in 1894, tenth of fourteen children of John Rodda (b1860 in Creswick, Victoria) and Annie James Botheras (b1860 in Bendigo, Victoria). John was a Farmer when he and Annie married in Daylesford in 1880, settling at Musk Creek via Daylesford and in Thorpdale where they raised their family and John was a Farmer.

Wilfred was working as a Bank Clerk in 1915 when he enlisted in the AIF. In 1916 in France, he was seriously ill with pleurisy, and returned to Melbourne in 1917. Wilfred died in Melbourne 'of illness contratced in France in 1916 while on active service' (Trove; 1918).

'A patient hero lies at rest' (Trove: 1918)

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