HOLDEN, Robert Stirzaker
| Service Number: | 3971 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 52nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Irishtown, Tasmania, Australia, 14 November 1896 |
| Home Town: | Irish Town, Circular Head, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, Mouquet Farm, France, 4 September 1916, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Stanley Circular Head War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3971, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 3971, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Orontes embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 24 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 3971, 12th Infantry Battalion, RMS Orontes, Melbourne | |
| 19 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 52nd Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Robert Stirzaker Holden'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 Holden enlisted the same day as his brother, Richard Holden. They were given consecutive regimental numbers 3970 and 3971. They both arrived in Egypt during early 1916 and transferred to the 52nd Battalion during the reorganisation of the AIF.
In March 1916, the local newspaper reported that Mr. and Mrs. R. Holden, of Irishtown, had received letters from their two sons in Egypt. They were both well, but did not like the sandy deserts as well as Tasmania.
Robert was listed as missing on the 4 September 1916 at Mouquet Farm, and Richard was wounded in action the day before. The two brothers in the same unit caused some confusion in Robert’s Red Cross wounded and missing file, where it seems Robert was mistaken for his brother by several men. The 52nd Battalion suffered terrible casualties during the last attack by Australians on Mouquet Farm.
From Robert’s Red Cross wounded and missing file, it seems Robert’s remains were found by a Chaplain Blackwood in early 1917, after the snows melted, and though his paybook was recovered and given to his brother, Richard Holden, his body had to be left on the battlefield.
Robert’s older brother, 3970 Pte. Richard Curnow Holden 52nd Battalion AIF was later awarded a Military Medal for bravery at Bullecourt by rescuing wounded men under fire.
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