Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Edward and Sarah GULLIKSEN
Of 13 Mill Street, Pyrmont, Sydney, NSW

From François Berthout

LCpl 6734 Robert Gulliksen,
14th Australian Infantry Battalion, 4th Brigade, 4th Australian Division.
 
In the white and eternal cities of the Somme, the silent and serene cemeteries facing the old battlefields, the old trenches, stand under the sun thousands of white graves, the graves of a whole generation of men, who, united forever in friendship and comradeship in which they served, fought and fell, rest in the peace for which they gave their all, their lives to offer us a tomorrow, a future in the peace for which they answered to the call of duty and for which they shed their blood on the fields of red poppies which remind us of what so many men did and gave for us and in the peace in which we live and in which they rest for eternity, I would watch on them so that their history and their memory will live forever, so that they will never be forgotten.

Today, I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who fought and gave his today, his life for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Lance Corporal number 6734 Robert Gulliksen who fought in the 14th Australian Infantry Battalion, 4th Brigade, 4th Australian Division, and who was killed in action 103 years ago, on June 7, 1918 at the age of 22 on the Somme front.

Robert Gulliksen was born in 1895 in Dawes Point, Sydney, New South Wales, and was the son of Edward and Sarah Gulliksen who lived at 13 Mill Street, Pyrmont, Sydney, New South Wales, then at 241 Annandale Street, Annandale, new South Wales. Before the outbreak of the war, Robert worked as a railway employee.

Robert enlisted on August 7, 1916 in Sydney, New South Wales, as a Private in the 14th Australian Infantry Battalion, 22nd Reinforcement and after a three month training period, he embarked with his unit from Sydney, on board HMAT SS Port Napier on November 17, 1916 and sailed for Devonport, England, where he arrived on January 29, 1917 and the next day, on January 30, he was sent to Codford to complete his training with the 4th Training Battalion and four months later on April 5, 1917 , he embarked with his battalion from Folkestone and proceeded overseas for France and was disembarked at Etaples the next day, on April 6, 1917 and sent the same day to the 4th Australian Divion Base Depot and was sent to Belgium and fought at Messines in June 1917 then to Ypres in July where he fell ill and was evacuated to the 13th Field Ambulance in Boulogne suffering from trench fever on July 11, 1917 then at the 55th General Hospital on July 17.

on July 24, 1917, Robert was evacuated to England and admitted the same day to No 2 Military Hospital in Canterbury then admitted to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital on July 30. After recovering and a period of convalescence, he had a new period of training at Longbridge Deverill, England, and on November 2, 1917 he embarked from Southampton and proceeded overseas for France where he was disembarked at Le Havre the next day, on November 3 then joined the 14th Australian Infantry Battalion in the Somme on November 6 where he fought with great courage then four months later, in March and April 1918, Robert and the 14th Australian Infantry Battalion played a key role in helping to stop the German offensive of spring 1918 and after the battle of Villers-Bretonneux, Robert was appointed Lance Corporal on May 20, 1918 but a month later, on June 7, 1918, it was in the Somme that he met his fate.

on June 7, 1918, while in the front line at Aubigny, near Villers-Bretonneux, the 14th Australian Infantry Battalion suffered from very active bombardment from German artillery which shelled Aubigny with high explosive shells and gas shells and unfortunately Robert was hit and killed immediately by a shell which fell near him, he was 22 years old.

Robert Gulliksen was first buried at Chalk Pits British Cemetery by Reverend Francis William Rolland, 14th Australian Infantry Battalion but was later re-buried and today, he rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms in Villers -bretonneux Military Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "O the beauty O the gladness of that resurrection day".

Robert, you who fought with the greatest courage alongside your brothers in arms on the battlefields of Belgium and France and who, in the trenches of the Somme, gave your life,I would like, from the bottom of my heart to say thank you for all that you have done for us who live in the peace for which you gave your today under rains of bullets and shells on the battlefields of the great war who saw so much courage, blood and tears, a whole generation of men who fought and fell under deadly machine gun fire that broke brave assaults that ended in bloodbath. They were young, they were brave and all did their duty with bravery for their country and for France, for their loved ones and for their comrades with whom they served side by side with pride and determination under the flames of a world on the edge of destruction. In the trenches, in the mud, in the blood and the barbed wire, they fought and did their part and among the poppies, in the eternal shroud of their remembrance, they lay down under the wooden crosses which stood in the fields on which so much blood flowed.More than a hundred years have passed and today thousands of white tombs stand under the sun of the Somme in which I walk in silence and with respect to honor and share the history of these thousands of men, of a whole generation whose names are and will always be remembered, a generation of young men who gave all they had for us and over whom I would always watch to bring them back to life, to keep their stories, their memories strong and alive so that, through time, through stone, in our hearts and in our thoughts, their names, their faces may live forever just as they will live forever in each poppy that seasons after season, grow through the battlefields and cemeteries of the Somme, silent and eternal witnesses, eternal symbols of all these young men to whom we owe so much, Thank you so much Robert, for everything. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him, we will remember them, today, tomorrow, forever.

Robert GULLIKSEN was born at Dawes Point in Sydney on 12th June 1895, but when he was of school age his family was living at Pyrmont, NSW. His parents were Edward and Sarah Anne Gulliksen.

He joined the NSW Government Railways and Tramways on 20th November 1911 as a junior porter in the Traffic Branch Sydney District. After a little over two years in this position he was transferred, still as a junior porter, to the Traffic Audit Branch in Sydney on 22nd December 1913. On his 21st birthday (12th June 1916) his position was changed to that of porter, and on 14th July 1916 he transferred back to the Traffic Branch Sydney District. A day later, on 15th July 1916, he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces.

Robert’s date of joining the AIF was 7th August 1916 and he was posted to the 22nd Reinforcements to the 14th Infantry Battalion with the rank of Private (Service Number 6734). When he enlisted, he was living with his family, still at Pyrmont, and he nominated his mother as his next of kin.

Robert embarked for England aboard SS ‘Port Napier’ from Sydney on 15th November 1916 and disembarked at Devonport in England on 29th January 1917. On arriving he was sent straight to the 4th Training Battalion at Codford, England for further training before leaving for France on 5th April 1917. After spending from 6th to 24th April 1917 at the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples, he was taken on strength of the 14th Infantry Battalion on 25 April 1917.

During the next six weeks the Battalion was sent to Belgium, where Robert reported sick with a case of trench fever and trench foot on 11th July 1917. The diseases were severe enough to require him to be evacuated to England where he was either in hospital or convalescing between 24th July and 17th September 1917. This was followed by a period of further training until 2nd November 1917 when he returned to France. He initially reported to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Havre on 3rd November 1917 and left there on 6th November 1917. It took him almost a week of travelling before he could re-join his unit in the field, on 13th November 1917.

While on duty with his unit, Robert was appointed Lance Corporal while in the field in France on 20th May 1918.

On 7th June 1918 he was killed in action by shell fire near Corbie.

He was initially buried in the Chalk Pits British Cemetery, about 2½ km south of Corbie. After the end of the war his remains were exhumed and re-interred at the nearby Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France. His place of association is Pyrmont, NSW.

After his death his mother was granted a pension of £1/10 shillings per fortnight, with effect from 19 August 1918.

- based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board