OVEREND, Robert
| Service Number: | 1906 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 July 1915, Enlisted at Lithgow, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 4th Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Innerleithen, Peeblesshire, Scotland, , 3 October 1878 |
| Home Town: | Lithgow, Lithgow, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Permanent Way Carpenter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 6 December 1916, aged 38 years |
| Cemetery: |
Bernafay Wood British Cemetery, Montauban Row F, Grave 50 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bathurst War Memorial Carillon, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 1906, 1st Field Company Engineers, Enlisted at Lithgow, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Oct 1915: | Involvement Sapper, 1906, 1st Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Jan 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 4th Field Company Engineers, From 1st Field Company Engineers | |
| 6 Dec 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 1906, 4th Field Company Engineers, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17, Killed in Action on this day. |
Help us honour Robert Overend's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was 40 and the husband of Ada Emma Overend, of 44, Upper Elmers End Rd., Beckenham, Kent.
He is remembered on the Innerleithen War Memorials. There is an external one and the stained Glass Windows in the church record the names of the fallen.
Innerleithen (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Leitheann) is a civil parish and a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders. It was formerly in the historic county of Peeblesshire or Tweeddale.
He is also honoured in the book of remembrance for Tweeddale. [Roll of honour of Peebleshire men killed in the Great War, 1914-1918. With portraits.]
Biography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of David Overend of Broomwell Cottage, Innerleithen, Scotland.
Served his carpentry apprenticeship with William Emford of Innerleithen, Scotland for four years.
At the time of enlistment his address People's Palace, Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW. Father of George Overend and Winifred Ivy Overend
Medals: 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Robert OVEREND (Service Number 1906) was born on 3rd October 1878 at Innerteithen, Scotland. He first worked for the Permanent Way Branch of the NSW Government Railways in the Western Division as a carpenter from 29th December 1912. On 28th July 1915 he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces. Overend enlisted at Lithgow the next day after his release from service, at first giving his brother living in Scotland as his next of kin, but later this was changed to his wife Ada Emma. He claimed to have served a four-year apprenticeship in his trade in Scotland.
Initially Overend was allocated to the 9th Reinforcements to the 1st Field Company of Engineers. He was taken on the strength of the unit at Tel-el-Kebir (Egypt) on 28th December 1915. In January 1916 he was transferred to the 4th Field Company of Engineers. In March he was disciplined for overstaying leave for 24 hours, and this resulted in two days Field Punishment No. 2 and the loss of three days’ pay.
On 1st June 1916 he embarked HT ‘Canada’ at Alexandria for passage to the British Expeditionary Force in France though Marseilles, where he passed on 9th June. In August he was again in disciplinary trouble when he was convicted of ‘Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline in that he continued to smoke on a night march, after being warned not to do so’. This incurred 14 days Field Punishment No. 2.
Overend was killed in action in France on 6th December. Several soldiers reported the same story, but Driver C Archibald words were:
‘Spt. Overend [who was acting as cook] was killed in a cook house ½ hour before dinner by a shell which burst on the roof. He was killed instantly. It must have been by concussion, as there was not a mark on him anywhere. He was buried at Barnafay Wood in a little Cemetery on the edge of the wood and a cross put over him.’
This cemetery was ¾ mile N.E. of Montauban, two miles N of Maricourt, 6¼ miles E if Albert.
Pensions were granted to his widow, Ada Emma, and his children George and Winifred Ivy.
In February Ada Emma wrote:
‘It is a long time since I had word of my husband’s death. I had the sad news on Christmas Eve. He was killed in action on December 6th. No one can tell how upset I was. I am left with two little children, the boy just turned two years and the girl eight months. I should be very thankful to you or any one if I could hear some news about him or any letter that may have been found on him. I received the card alright.
Yours obligingly,
Ada Emma Overend.’
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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