ROBERTS, Clive
| Service Numbers: | 903, 903A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 February 1915, Keswick, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Trooper |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Glenelg, South Australia, 30 October 1897 |
| Home Town: | Glenelg, Holdfast Bay, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Glenelg Grammar School & St Peters College, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Engineering |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Rafa, Egypt, 9 January 1917, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
Kantara War Memorial Cemetery F 129 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Glenelg Congregational Church Roll of Honor, Glenelg and District WW1 & WW2 Honour Board, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 903, Keswick, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 903, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 31 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 903, 27th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1 | |
| 29 Dec 1915: | Transferred AIF WW1, Trooper, 3rd Light Horse Regiment | |
| 3 Aug 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Trooper, 903, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Battle of Romani | |
| 9 Jan 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Trooper, 903A, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Battle of Rafa, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 903A awm_unit: 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment awm_rank: Trooper awm_died_date: 1917-01-09 |
Clive Roberts
Clive Roberts was the son of Alfred Jabez Roberts and Isabella Joyce. He was also the great grandson of successful property developer John William Roberts of Kensington, South Australia.
Alfred Jabez Roberts was awarded an O.B.E for his service to conscription, was the Mayor of Glenelg, a member of the Davis Cup team and captain of the Norwood Football Club.
Submitted 31 July 2015 by Kathie Bezer
Biography
From the book Fallen Saints
Clive Roberts of Glenelg was born in 1897 and educated at the Glenelg Grammar School and the Collegiate School of St Peter; at the time of enlistment, he was studying engineering at Adelaide University.
He was a fine athlete, footballer and cricketer, and also excelled at lawn tennis and swimming. He was engaged by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company at Hummocky Hill. (Whyalla) [i]
Clive enlisted at Keswick in March 1915 and was held in transit at the Infantry Base Depot, Oaklands Park until 16 April when he was being posted to B Company 27th Battalion which sailed from Adelaide aboard HMAT Geelong at the end of May.
In August 1915 while in Egypt, Private Roberts transferred to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment (probably to serve with his brother Ewart) and proceeded to Mudros on 12 November where he remained until the evacuation.
At the end of October 1916 he was trade tested at Kantara, Egypt, for service with Royal Australian Flying Corps and returned to the regiment a few days later. Trooper Clive Roberts, had survived the battle of Romani and other engagements but was killed in action at Rafa, Egypt, on 9 January1917; he was 19 years of age.
In a letter to the School Magazine Captain Alan Wendt (OS) Quartermaster, 3rd Light Horse Regiment described more about the events leading up to Clive’s death during the attack at Rafa.
Major Lance Lewis had been badly wounded in the head, and Clive was carrying him out of the firing line with great bravery and coolness, although in a very exposed position, and under heavy rifle, machine-gun, and shrapnel fire, when he was hit in the heart by a bullet, and death occurred instantaneously. Clive has proven himself a splendid little soldier and he died a soldier’s death whilst performing a most gallant act. [ii]
In a letter to Clive’s parents, the troop commander said Clive had been spared prolonged suffering when shot through the heart and killed instantly while trying to rescue another man.
Thus the boy lay, as I saw him, with a faint smile still on his face, and as he had lived a thorough soldier, so he had died, an example to his comrades. ... I am sorry indeed to lose such a fine lad, and wish to offer you my deepest sympathy in your sad loss, the price you have paid for home and Empire, and hope God will assist you and all to whom he was dear to bear bravely your great loss. [iii]
A week after the battle, Corporal Graham Dow (OS) wrote to his sister in Adelaide telling her the Turks had been in a very strong position at Rafa and how after being under heavy rifle and machine gun fire for most of the day his squadron had been forced to retire late in the afternoon. He described the scene with men being ‘knocked over everywhere’ and how when the squadron retired, Major Lewis who had been severely wounded would have been left behind were it not for the fact that he and another man stayed behind to bring him in.
Dow said he and his mate were half-way up a ridge when Roberts ran down to give them a hand yelling as he ran, ‘I will help. I can hold his head up,’ just as he finished calling out a bullet struck him in the back and he died immediately.
The Light Horsemen finally won the day and after taking some 2,000 prisoners and large quantities of weapons and equipment, they began gathering their dead and wounded.
When Dow and his mate brought the body of Trooper Roberts in they discovered a bullet had pierced his heart. He told her Clive was popular with everyone in the unit and his loss had a profound effect on all who knew him.
He died a brave man, in an effort to help a wounded comrade. If I have to ‘pass out,’ I hope that I will meet death in a brave a manner as he did. [iv]
The bullet that hit Major Lewis entered his head just below his eyes and after travelling down the back of his neck exited between his shoulder blades; after months of convalescence he returned to Australia.
Sergeant Ewart Roberts (Clive’s Brother OS), enlisted in March 1915, served at Anzac with the 3rd Light Horse Regiment and was invalided back to Australia and discharged in 1916.
[i] Adelaide Chronicle, 3 February 1917, p. 43
[ii] St Peter’s School Magazine - W K Thomas & Co, Adelaide, May 1917, p. 61
[iii] ibid
[iv] Adelaide Chronicle, 21 April 1917, p. 43
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