Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Robert Strickson (Bob) Shillaker was one of five children; he was born in 1919 soon after his father William Henry (Harry) Shillaker returned wounded from the Western Front during World War One. Harry had lost an arm and continued to suffer terribly from a serious head wound which required him to have a steel plate in his skull. When Harry died as a result of these injuries in 1925, Bob, his mother Gladys, and his siblings continued to cope as best they could; but times were difficult, and the children grew up in a variety of foster homes and orphanages while Gladys worked hard as a nursing sister to provide whatever support she could to her family.
With encouragement from Gladys, Bob gained a scholarship to St Peters College in Adelaide and at the end of his schooling he was offered a place at Adelaide University to study accounting. Sadly, without the financial means to pursue tertiary study, Bob was unable to pursue this opportunity, and instead took up employment with the Electricity Trust.
Bob’s interest in the military commenced as a cadet at St Peters, and after leaving school he joined the 27th Scottish Regiment where he obtained his commission as a Lieutenant in 1939. In 1940, when he enlisted in the AIF, he was drafted to the 2/48th Battalion, following his father’s footsteps into the 48th. He was then the youngest Commissioned Officer in the AIF.
Bob became engaged to Oodzie Potts of Langhorne Creek before embarking for overseas in November 1940.
The story of the famous Rats of Tobruk is well known now, and the role of the 2/48th Battalion is remembered with great pride and respect. Bob’s tenacity, courage and creativity provided him with ideal leadership attributes in the Middle East, and he was promoted to Captain in June 1941. He served in Tobruk, Palestine, Syria, and El Alamein until on 31 October 1942 Bob was seriously wounded in the chest, back and legs at Trig 29.
Bob’s leadership, courage and determination earned him the Military Cross for gallantry in action, and his citation acknowledges the example and inspiration he provided to all his men.
Bob spent several months in hospital in Heliopolous, dangerously ill and unable to walk, his frail body wasting away to little more than four stone. In 1943 Bob learned that a hospital ship was returning to Australia, but only with walking wounded servicemen. Somehow Bob convinced the authorities that he qualified for this journey, and with a determination rarely seen in anyone, he managed to walk up the gangplank of the Hospital Ship Wanganella unaided, before collapsing as he reached the deck.
Once home in Adelaide, Bob’s recovery continued slowly, and he spent many months in the Repatriation Hospital regaining his strength and doggedly re-building his mobility. He was able to take leave from hospital to marry Oodzie in July 1943, but it was some time later before the newlyweds were able to settle into their home together and start to build their family of four daughters.
Bob’s life after 1943 was never without pain, and he never fully recovered from the wounds which had taken a huge toll on him. Nevertheless, he never lost the determination and courage he was known for as a soldier, and many years later when in his early seventies Bob experienced an aortic aneurism and was told by doctors he would never walk again, he simply said to his family “What do they know – I did it fifty years ago, and I will do it again now”. Within two days he was on his feet, moving carefully but unaided around his hospital ward.
Bob died several years later in 1995, age 76.