Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Robert Wardlaw was my Great Uncle and to me he was known as “Uncle Bob”.  It is my honour to briefly share the story of his life and war service.

Robert Wardlaw was born on the 14h March 1893 in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the 5th child of 10 children born to his parents Andrew and Marion Wardlaw.  Bob had 5 sisters and 4 brothers and when Bob was 18 years old, the family migrated to Australia aboard the SS Perthshire, arriving in Brisbane just in time for Christmas on the 16th December 1911. 

The family first settled in Queensland in the Brisbane suburb of Paddington and attended the local Presbyterian Church.  In 1914 Bob contracted typhoid fever but subsequently recovered from this.  In 1917 the family moved to Coorparoo, another Brisbane suburb.  It was while living here that Bob enlisted for WW1 in the AIF as a Private on the 6th July 1915 aged 22.  I will always remember this date because it was on this day 13 years later that Bob’s niece Peggy, my Aunty, was born in 1928.  I also happened to have been born on this date in 1957, 42 years after Bob enlisted.  His service number was 63 and his unit the 31st Infantry Battalion.  He was 5ft 10ins tall with grey eyes, dark complexion and black hair.  Bob’s younger brother John, Peggy’s father and my grandfather, also enlisted for WW1 in the AIF in 1917 aged 19. 

On the 9th November 1915 Bob embarked from Brisbane on HMAT Wandilla and disembarked at Suez a month later and was based at the Australian Camp at Tel-el-kebir.  In mid March the following year Bob was transferred to the 5th Divisional Signals Company and reclassified to Sapper.  The Division moved to Ferry Post in May and Bob was reclassified to Driver.  Two weeks later the Division moved to Moascar and then to Alexandria where they embarked for France on HMT Manitou on the 18th June 1916.  A week later they disembarked at Marseilles then proceeded by train for the next 3 days to Blaringhem near Hazebrouck in northern France.  Over the next 12 months the Division moved about northern France to 12 different locations.  A highlight was a visit from His Majesty King George V at a sports day for the Division held at Henencourt Wood on the 12th July 1917.  He was escorted by General William Birdwood.  Two months later the Division moved to Belgium for 2 months then back to France briefly till the end of January 1918.  They returned to Belgium till the end of March then moved back to France to an area near Amiens.  On the 12th April the Division moved to Bussy-les-Daours where they were involved in some action on the 24th.  Bob was one of the casualties that day having his left hand wounded as well as being gassed, affecting his eyes and chest. 

Bob was initially evacuated to the 14th Field Ambulance stationed at Franvillers and from there to the 61st Casualty Clearing Station at Vignacourt.  The following day he was admitted to the 9th General Hospital at Rouen then 2 days later was transferred to the No.37 ambulance train and evacuated to England on the hospital ship “Carisbrook Castle.”  The following day he was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley where he spent a month recuperating before being transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford.  Upon discharge from the hospital Bob was given 2 weeks leave before reporting for duty to No. 4 Command Depot, Hurdcott Camp, near Fovant.  He then proceeded to Sandy Hill Camp, the Overseas Training Brigade at Longbridge Deverill.  He marched into Clifton at the end of June and 10 days later proceeded to France via Folkestone.  He rejoined the 5th Division Signals Company at Heilly, the area just north of where he was gassed. 

In October the Division moved to Hervilly, east of Amiens, and the following month to Oisemont, west of Amiens.  In December the Division proceeded to Port Remy where they remained until early April 1919 when they marched out to Havre for return to Australia.  Bob disembarked at Southhampton then proceeded to the Australian Camp at Weymouth.  Six weeks later, on the 22nd May, Bob embarked for Australia from Liverpool on HMT Durham Castle. 

Bob’s 3 brothers also served in WW2…Andrew and John in the Australian Army and William in the Australian Navy. 

Bob returned to the family farm at North Arm, Queensland.  Sadly, Bob’s father passed away in October 1921 aged 60.  Bob was a keen sportsman playing football and tennis and along with brothers Andy and John, represented North Arm playing soccer.  In the mid 1920’s, Bob and Andy shared the mail run for Yandina.  In early 1929 after 10 years living at North Arm, the family moved interstate to Moree NSW to a sheep property called “Baalgammon.”  John was married with 3 children by this time so he joined Andy and Bob running the farm.  Their mother and 2 sisters were also living there so it was a real family affair.  Just 12 months later their mother passed away after a short illness in January 1930 aged 63. 

Bob remained on the farm at Moree until he enlisted for WW2 on the 15th March 1942, the day after his 49th birthday.  Bob’s service number was N169886, his rank a Private and his unit…“E” Company with the 2nd VDC Battalion, Volunteer Defence Corps. Two weeks later Bob joined the 29th Battalion of the VDC.  So that the Volunteer Defence Corps could achieve its mission, the army organised it geographically to correspond to the line of communication areas.  It then subdivided each line of communication area into Volunteer Defence Corps groups, each holding several battalions.  A typical battalion held approximately 400 men, organised into companies, platoons, and sections.  The founding principle of this force was to provide a means by which ex-servicemen could make a contribution to the defence of their communities.  Some of the particular missions for which the Volunteer Defence Corps prepared included the construction of road blocks, demolition of bridges and piers, protection of airbases, industrial sites, and vulnerable points, coast-watching, and village and guerrilla warfare. 

Bob was promoted to Sergeant in October 1943 and stayed with the 29th Battalion VDC for the remainder of the war until his discharge on the 30th September 1945. 

In 1943, aged 50, Bob married Edith Wilhelmina Kelton at Moree but sadly, their happiness was short lived when Edith died giving birth to their daughter Ailsa on the 15th January 1944.  Incredibly, this was the same date that Bob’s mother died 14 years earlier.  Bob was serving with the VDC when this happened so I understand that baby Ailsa was cared for by his sisters on the farm at Moree. 

After his discharge from the VDC in 1945, Bob returned to the farm at Moree and his job as a grazier.  On the 23rd April 1949 at Moree, Bob married Mary Catherine Clyne but she went by the name “Maisie”.   She had been a resident of Moree since 1914.  The wedding was to be held at the Presbyterian Church but due to a recent storm having demolished the church, the wedding was held at the bride’s parents home at Moree.  Bob was a board member of the Presbyterian Church and enjoyed playing bowls. 

Bob and Maisie remained at “Baalgammon” in Moree until the early sixties when they moved to Toowoomba in Queensland.  They lived out their remaining days here and were married for 22 years until Bob’s death on the 11th February 1971, aged 77.  Maisie lived for another 36 years passing away in Toowoomba on the 15th March 2007 aged 97.  They rest together in the Toowoomba Garden of Remembrance. 

My family went to visit Uncle Bob and Aunty Maisie in Toowoomba when I was about 10.  He spent the latter part of his years on oxygen 24 hours a day, no doubt a complication from his having been gassed in WW1.  I remember him tearing up when my sister and I sang “White Christmas” to him.  My Mum told me that my Dad used to call him “Grumpy Uncle Bob” because when he was a small boy living at “Baalgammon” Bob seemed to be impatient with him.  It was not until Dad was a husband and father himself that he came to appreciate that Uncle Bob had a very gentle and caring heart.  He not only experienced the horrors of two wars, being gassed and wounded, he also experienced a lot of personal grief and sadness with the loss of both parents when he was young and then his wife in childbirth.  It’s evident to me that Uncle Bob was a selfless and self-sacrificing person who cared not only for his family but for his nation.  After what he experienced in WW1 he could be forgiven for not wanting to take part in WW2 but his desire to serve and protect his family and his nation saw him volunteer for service in WW2 as well.   

In February 2017, I had the blessing of being able to visit the family farm “Baalgammon” at Moree some 87 years after my Dad was living there as a 6 year old boy.  Words cannot describe the emotion I felt as I stood on that property picturing Uncle Bob and his brothers working the farm in the intense heat and dryness.  The calibre of men like Uncle Bob and what they endured, during and after the wars, to give us the life and freedom we enjoy today is nothing short of EXTRAORDINARY!!!  Uncle Bob’s name appears on the Coorparoo School of Arts WW1 Honour Board, Brisbane, Qld.

Robert Wardlaw was awarded for service in WW1: 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal and for WW2: Australia Service Medal.

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith Ocotber 2020

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-conflicts-periods/ww2/vol-def-corps.htm