S1724
HUNT, William Robert
| Service Number: | 2570 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 May 1915, Keswick, SA |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 52nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mount Gambier, South Australia, Australia, 11 July 1891 |
| Home Town: | Kent Town, Norwood Payneham St Peters, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Mount Gambier High School |
| Occupation: | Articled Law Clerk |
| Died: | 7 September 1958, aged 67 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Gambier Lake Terrace Cemetery Section: K, 429 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Members of the Legal Profession & Students at Law WW1 Honour Board, Adelaide University of Adelaide WW1 Honour Roll, Hackney St Peter's College Honour Board, Mount Gambier High School Great War Roll of Honor, Penola District WW1 Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 31 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2570, 12th Infantry Battalion, Keswick, SA | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2570, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: RMS Morea embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 26 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2570, 12th Infantry Battalion, RMS Morea, Adelaide | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Corporal, 2570, 52nd Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour William Robert Hunt's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Graeme Roulstone
2570 William Robert HUNT was born at Mount Gambier on 11 July 1891.354 He attended school at Kalangadoo before being enrolled at Mount Gambier High School on 21 January 1907 by his father, a sheep farmer of Kalangadoo. He left school on 29 November 1907. The (Adelaide) Chronicle ran the following story in November 1907:
The Vansittart Scholarship at Mount Gambier, which gives three years’ free tuition, with board and lodging, at St Peter’s College, has been awarded to William Robert Hunt, son of Mr Thomas Hunt, farmer, of Kalangadoo. He was 16 years old last July.
He enlisted at Keswick, South Australia, on 31 May 1915 (23, articled law clerk, single, Church of England) naming his mother, Mrs Elizabeth Sarah Hunt of Kalangadoo, as his next of kin.
His enlistment complicated his career aspirations, which prompted the (Adelaide) Register to run the following story:
In the matter of William Robert Hunt, articled clerk, Mr Angus Parsons appeared, and moved that the applicant should be exempt from the conditions of Rule 4, which, he explained, provided that an articled clerk should not engage in any other pursuit during the currency of his articles. Hunt had attended the law lectures at the University of Adelaide for four academic years. He was articled on April 19, 1914, and in May last he enlisted as a volunteer for active service in the war, and was now at the front. Mr Parsons also asked that the time during which he should be absent from the State might count as time served in his articles. The motion was granted.
He embarked from Adelaide on the ‘Morea’ on 26 August 1915 and joined the 12th Battalion on Mudros on 4 December. He joined the troops being evacuated from Gallipoli and disembarked at Alexandria in Egypt on 6 January. He was transferred to the 52nd Battalion on 1 March 1916, promoted to Corporal in April, and hospitalised in May with appendicitis. It was decided to return him to Australia for a change following his appendix operation and he left Suez on 5 July 1916 on the ‘Karoola’, disembarked in Australia on 4 August and was discharged on 22 August. A report in the (Adelaide) Mail in 1919 relates something of his transition to civilian life, picking up where he had left off:
The Supreme Court on Saturday morning dealt with a number of applications for admission to the Bar … The admission of Mr William Robert Hunt was moved by Mr Angus Parsons, K.C. Mr Hunt served his articles with Messrs Glynn, Parsons & McEwin, and had been on active service for over a year. He was educated at St Peter’s College
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