MITCHELL, Robert Richard
| Service Number: | 2415 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 May 1915, Clunes, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 5th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glendonald, Victoria, Australia, 1892 |
| Home Town: | Clunes, Hepburn, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Memorials: | Clunes Soldiers Pictorial Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 28 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, Clunes, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Jul 1915: | Embarked Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Demosthenes, Melbourne | |
| 16 Jul 1915: | Involvement Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Nov 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 23 Jul 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières | |
| 14 Aug 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, Mouquet Farm | |
| 14 Nov 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17 | |
| 15 Apr 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line and Outpost Villages, Lagnicourt | |
| 8 May 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (Second) | |
| 4 Jun 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 5th Infantry Battalion, France | |
| 2 Jul 1917: | Honoured Military Medal, Bullecourt (Second), 'Courage and determination as messenger, obtaining important information and setting fine example.' (Near Bullecourt 8-9 May 1917). | |
| 20 Sep 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, Menin Road, SW to thigh. Evacuated to hospital (France) and re-joined unit on 21 October 1917. | |
| 22 Sep 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, "The Last Hundred Days", SW to left hand and shoulder sustained near Hargicourt. Evacuated to UK. | |
| 6 Sep 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 2415, 5th Infantry Battalion, RTA 19 April 1919 and discharged (MU). |
Help us honour Robert Richard Mitchell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
Brother: 4847 Driver George Alexander MITCHELL, 4th Division Ammunition Column, returned to Australia, 1 May 1919.
Biography contributed by Robert Wight
Robert Richard Mitchell enlisted in the AIF in Clunes on 28 May 1915, aged almost 23. He embarked overseas on 16 July. After training in Egypt for several weeks, he embarked for Lemnos on 18 October, where he joined the 5th Battalion, at rest, on 3 November. The battalion returned to Gallipoli on 17 November 1915 and was evacuated in late December.
He left Egypt and arrived in France on 30 March 1916, where the battalion was involved at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm in July – August 1916, and then again at Gueudecourt in November 1916. During the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in early 1917, he saw action at Lagnicourt and Bullecourt in April – May 1917; and was later awarded the Military Medal for his performance at Bullecourt. He was promoted to Lance Corporal in June 1917.
He sustained a slight shrapnel wound to his thigh during the Battle of Menin Road on 20 September 1917 and then spent several months attached to the 1st and 2nd Training Battalions in England between February - August 1918. He returned to France on 3 September and, after joining his unit on 11 September, sustained further shrapnel wounds (to the left hand and shoulder) near Hargicourt on 22 September 1918.
He was evacuated to England however never fully recovered from his wounds. He left for Australia on 19 April 1919 and arrived in Melbourne on 7 June, where he was medically discharged from the AIF on 6 September 1919.
Source: Extract from "Clunes Soldiers Memorial Panel" by Robert Wight, June 2022.
Click images to start slideshow.