Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Francis Gustav Theodore Hase and Elizabeth Hase nee Bryce of Ansell Street, Semaphore, SA. Brother of Ida Leopoldina Hermind Hase and Bruce Octavi Hase

Commenced return to Australia on 15 February 1918 aboard HT Ulysses disembarking on 18 March 1918 at Melbourne for overland travel to Adelaide

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal

On 9 Febuary 1925 Francis married Ruby Sophia Black in St. George's Church, Alberton, SA

Francis Robert Hase was born on 25 March 1882 in Semaphore, South Australia. By the time of enlistment in January 1916, he was 33 years old, single, and working as a driver. 

Hase enlisted in Adelaide on 11 January 1916. He was described as relatively short, standing at 5 feet 3¼ inches, weighing 114 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. Like many other South Australians, he completed his initial training at Mitcham Camp where new recruits endured long days of drill, rifle practice, and physical training. His training continued in Egypt after embarkation, where he adapted to desert marches, horse handling, and the demands of campaigning in arid conditions.

On 28 April 1916, Hase departed Australia aboard HMAT Bakara and sailed for the Middle East. This marked the beginning of his service abroad.

Hase was assigned to the 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment serving as a Trooper (Private). Light Horse soldiers were not cavalry in the traditional sense; instead, they acted as mounted infantry, using horses for mobility but dismounting to fight with rifles in hand-to-hand combat. His responsibilities included reconnaissance patrols, scouting enemy positions, digging defensive trenches, and engaging in dismounted battles. He would have been armed with a Lee-Enfield .303 rifle, bayonet, and possibly a revolver.

The 9th Light Horse Regiment was heavily involved in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns, working alongside the Imperial Camel Corps and other mounted units. Their mobility and endurance were crucial in desert warfare, where long distances, lack of water, and heat made supply and movement difficult.

Though his regiment was not sent to the Western Front, Hase’s experience in the Middle East was equally harsh and dangerous. Politically, Australia’s involvement in these campaigns was tied to Britain’s aim of defending the Suez Canal and pushing the Ottoman Empire back from Egypt and Palestine. For Australian troops, this meant fighting across open desert landscapes, often far from reliable water supplies.

The 9th Light Horse played a major role in several significant battles. Hase’s regiment fought at the Battle of Romani (1916), where British Empire forces halted the Ottoman advance on the Suez Canal. They were also involved in the First, Second, and Third Battles of Gaza (1917), which were part of the long struggle to break through Ottoman defences in southern Palestine. One of the regiment’s most famous moments was its participation in the charge at Beersheba on 31 October 1917 a bold cavalry charge remembered as one of the last great mounted assaults in history.

On 5 November 1917, during the Palestine campaign, Hase was wounded in action. Although the details of his wound are not fully recorded, it was serious enough to see him evacuated and eventually returned to Australia as medically unfit. His experience would have been terrifying, as combat in the desert involved constant exposure to enemy fire, disease, sandstorms, and exhausting marches.

After being wounded, Hase returned to Australia in early 1918 and was discharged from the AIF in March of that year. In 1925, he married Ruby Sophia Black at St George’s Church in Alberton, South Australia. He settled back in Adelaide, where he lived until his death on 6 June 1959 at Springbank, South Australia. His ashes were interred at Centennial Park Cemetery, giving him a known resting place something many of his fallen comrades were denied.

Bibliography

Works Cited

“Francis Robert Hase.” Awm.gov.au, 2025, www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2037340. Accessed 12 Sept. 2025.

“Francis Robert Hase | South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau.” Sa.gov.au, 2025, sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/soldier/francis-robert-hase?utm_. Accessed 12 Sept. 2025.

“Has-Hay.” World War I Pictorial Honour Roll of South Australians, 2025, ww1sa.weebly.com/has-hay.html. Accessed 12 Sept. 2025.

“Imperial Camel Corps.” Wikipedia, 28 July 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Camel_Corps.

“Memories.” Memories.net, Memories, 2018, app.memories.net/memorials/francisrobert-hase-94388. Accessed 12 Sept. 2025.

OpenAI. “ChatGPT.” ChatGPT, OpenAI, 2025, chatgpt.com/.