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Australia

Robert was born on the 26th September 1919 at the coastal town of Glenelg. He was the only son of Austral James Carvosso. His father, Austral enlisted on his eighteenth birthday to serve in WWI as 62533 with the 6th General Service Reinforcements. Because of his age, Austral’s record indicated that he was not to embark until he was 18 ½. Armistice was declared while he was abroad in South Africa, with Austral consequently returning to Australia via Western Australia on the ‘Boonah’, before catching a train across the Nullarbor to Adelaide Railway Station. He arrived on the 7th January, to eventually be discharged in February, 1919.
Initially Austral married Mary Agnes Page in April ’21 with the two living at Glenelg. Despite WWI being hailed as the ‘War to End All Wars’ by ’39 Australians were again preparing to fight or support those who served, through their efforts at home. Groups such as the Red Cross and Comforts Funds worked with the Returned Soldiers League. At Glenelg, the Mayor's Emergency Committee was formed to coordinate fundraising and prevent unintentional overlapping. Austral (also known as Bob) was the secretary as the representative of the RSL with other group representatives.
Robert served with the 27th Battalion (militia) with another young Adelaide man, Harold Harris. At the time he was also working as a storeman. However, with the outbreak of WWII, 20-year-old Robert (Bob), enlisted on the 5th July, 1940. He nominated Austral as his Next of Kin. Bob was allocated to the 2/48th Battalion as SX7888, at a similar time to 22-year-old Harold Harris who became SX7454 in the same battalion.
(Austral was also called up in August ’40, nominating his wife, Mary Agnes as his Next of Kin. He eventually became 36489, a Group Captain in the RAAF, bringing his extensive accounting skills to his later work in administration.)
Strangely, Bob and Harold’s lives were to run in parallel. The two spent their early army days in the cold of the Pavilions, now part of the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds, before heading to Woodside for their preliminary training. Following pre-embarkation leave the 2/48th Battalion then embarked on the Stratheden for the Middle East, on the 7th November 1940. Soon after, Bob was appointed Acting Lance Corporal prior to disembarking on the 17th December. The young men then completed a few months training in Cyrenaica facing dust, flies, heat, minimal water supplies and constant bombardment when in Tobruk.
Early in March, ‘41 Bob was confined to barracks for a hefty six days for ‘conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline’. A seemingly harsh penalty. His battalion had barely arrived in the Middle East when in May ‘41 he sustained a gunshot wound, consistently reported as being in his left shoulder, resulting in him being evacuated to hospital. His injury occurred in the fierce fighting for Hill 209 which also claimed the lives of seven others. In contrast, later recounts by fellow soldiers and his post war condition indicate he lost an eye in the fighting.
John Glenn in his book, ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’ described conditions that day at Dimra: “At 3:50am on 1st May the men of the 2/48th stood-to to await the outcome of the battle which had raged all through the night. In thick mist, darkness, and bitter cold they snatched a quick breakfast of bully beef and hard biscuits.” In an attempt to take Hill 209 in the heavy dust storm marked by overhead enemy aircraft targeting their carrying vehicles, ‘D Company moved out steadily with two platoons forward- 18 Platoon under Lieutenant Larkins on the right and 17 Platoon with Sergeant Tonkin in command on the left.’ ‘The company then moved well forward under control, and came under small arms fire, but continued until they came under very heavy machine-gun fire from the direction of the Water Point and Post S4.’
The remainder of that day was chaotic, information scant, the men weary and under heavy fire and a raging sandstorm.’ With D company held up, Captain Woods crept forward with Warran Officer Noble and Bob in an attempt to find the enemy machine gun post. The party crawled forward to where they could hear the Germans speaking, with one calling out “Surrender, Surender”. One of the 2/48th men called “come out you bastard, where I can see you. Come out and fight.” Glenn recounts how ‘The enemy replied with every weapon they had. Woods was badly wounded, and Bob Carvosso was hit in the head, causing him to lose one eye. He was immediately sent back.’ The next morning there was a terrific dust storm, but a foot patrol set out to find their soldiers who had not returned. For a few of those missing men it was some time before their fate was confirmed. An appalling day for the close knit 2/48th.
Back home on the 21st May ’41, the Chronicle listed Bob as one of 29 wounded in action from his battalion. These included Pte. Laurence S. Baker, SX7282, Mambray Creek; Pte. Percival G. Bartholomew, SX7122, Narrung; Pte. Thomas Bell, SX8265, Snowtown; Joseph Buckley, SX8459, Albert Park, Vic; Pte. Robert W. Carvosso, SX7888, Glenelg; Pte. Ernest H. Chapman, SX7289, Koongawa; Pte. Ronald R. Collins, SX7163, Gulnare; Pte. M. G. Day. SX7434, Nairne; Pte. Harold W. Gass, SX7147, Mannum; Pte. Ronald A. Gepp, SX7884, Ashborne; Pte. Roy D. Goodes, SX6917. Cur ramulka; Pte. John Kennedy. SX7842, Adelaide; Lieut. Geoffrey D. Larkins, SX10332. St. Peters; Pte. Wilfred. J. Lewis, SX8856, Scott's Creek; Pte Henry O. Lohman. SX7771, Murray Bridge; Pte. Keith H. Pointon. SX7143. Prospect; Pte. Leonard G. Rex, SX7990, Colonel Light Gar dens; and Pte. Leonard J Rodda, SX7327, Moonta.
Robert’s injury was reported in the Chronicle on the following day.
Extensive hospitalisation followed but by June that year, Bob was classified as ‘Permanently Unfit for Service’ by the Medical Board.
By August ’41 Bob and Harry were two of many injured soldiers who returned from Tobruk, via sea. When interviewed by the Advertiser, were unanimous that "They (the Germans) will never take Tobruk." The soldiers reported that “the morale of the South Australians, and of the other defenders was splendidly high, and enemy pamphlets persuasively worded, calling on them to surrender were laughed to scorn. Life was hard in Tobruk, they said, but vicious dive-bombing, deadly sniping and stiffened attacks on the outer perimeter were being withstood and beaten off time and again.”
Private Ray Clements SX8231, in Bob’s 2/48th Battalion, was also wounded in May with a gunshot wound and shrapnel in his left arm, foot and back. He had been hospitalised for four months in a military hospital near Suez. Throughout that time, he recounted how they were continuously bombed several times a week. Some of the wards had been hit but remarkably the whole hospital was not blown to bits. He agreed with other soldiers that dive-bombing was the most terrifying experience of all. On the ships at Suez, and along the vital parts of the canal, it was necessary to fly balloon barrages as had been done in London.
Despite being unable to return to his Battalion, Bob continued to support the campaign for more young men to enlist. At lunchtime he and other returned soldiers were amongst the main speakers at a rally on North Terrace. The Advertiser in August ’41 reported that ‘Pte. Bob Carvosso, 19-year-old veteran of several campaigns in this war, also took part in the appeal. Pte. Carvosso lost an eye and received a shoulder wound at Tobruk.’ Bob was discharged on the 9th October, 41
By January ‘42, Bob proposed to Betty Francis, with the couple placing an announcement in the Advertiser. ‘ENGAGED Miss Betty Francis Younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. Francis, of Elder terrace, Dunleath Gardens, to Mr. Robert W. Carvosso (AIF, returned), only son of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Carvosso. of Moseley street, Glenelg.’ They married in July, the following year. FRANCIS—CARVOSSO.—The marriage of Betty, younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. Francis, Dunleath Gdns., to Robert, only son of Sq-Ldr. and Mrs. A. J. Carvosso, Glenelg, at St. Peter's Church, Glenelg, on July 17, at 2.30 p.m.
Bob undertook study through the School of Mines, gaining qualifications as a Bookkeeper by December ’43.
With hostilities over, ‘good news’ stories emerged to highlight the camaraderie and the strong bonds between those who fought together. The News in January ‘46 carried an article about the close bonds forged during war. ‘The Inseparables. FEW friendships are more sincere than those formed on active service, but Bob Carvosso and Harold Harris have more in common than most war-time friends. They:
Joined up the same day in 1940:
Were allotted to the same company in the 2/48 Battalion, A.I.F.;
Sailed overseas in the same ship;
Went into action together at Tobruk;
Were wounded the same night;
Each lost an eye-Bob his left and Harold his right;
Were sent to the same base hospital;
Returned to Australia in the Same ship;
Were weeks together in the same hospital in Australia; and
Were discharged on the same day.
By the time they got to Tobruk they were known as "the inseparables," and they still see a lot of each other after work. Bob is captain of the Glenelg R.S.L. cricket team and works for a wholesale tobacconist's firm. Harold is a Customs official.’

Betty and Bob welcomed a son, Peter David in October ’48. A daughter followed in January ’54. Bob’s focus was on his family and creating a new life together with Betty. Hence it was almost four decades after his discharge that Bob applied for the medals he had earned during the conflict. The 1939/45 Star, African Star, Defence Medal, War Medal and Australian Service Medal were eventually sent to him in September, ’83.
Bob’s father, Austral died in October ’65 and his wife, Hilda Lillian in March ’88. Both now rest together with Austral’s plaque bearing the inscription ‘Loved father of Bob’.
Aged 87, Bob died on the 6th January 2007 and was buried in the South East section, at Centennial Park, Rose Bed SG2 Position 37. A plaque commemorating his service is also in the South Australian Garden of Remembrance. (His son, Peter died five years later on the 11th January 2012 and rests nearby in the Derrick Gardens Path 33, Grave 110A.)
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.