BANTIN, Robert John
| Service Number: | NX16614 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 May 1940, Paddington |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/13th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glebe, New South Wales, Australia, 10 August 1910 |
| Home Town: | Marrickville, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Storeman & Packer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, At sea (Middle East) aboard the "SS Chakdina", 5 December 1941, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Alamein Memorial, El Alamein War Cemetery, El Alamein, Egypt Panel 91 |
| Memorials: | Alamein Memorial (El Alamein), Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Lance Corporal, NX16614 | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 May 1940: | Enlisted Lance Corporal, Paddington | |
| 23 May 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Corporal, NX16614, 2nd/13th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Dec 1941: | Wounded Siege of Tobruk | |
| 5 Dec 1941: | Embarked Robert John Bantin was evacuated aboard the HMNZS "SS Chakdina," carrying 380 wounded Allied soldiers, 100 German & Italian POW's and 120 crew. Just after 9pm on the 5th December 1941, an enemy plane attacked the vessel, releasing a torpedo which exploded, sinking the ship within 5 minutes. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Tracy Rockwell
Robert John Bantin (former Storeman and Packer) signed the oath of enlistment joining the Australian Miltary Forces on 23rd May 1940 at Marrickville. His regimental number was NX16614 and he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on the 7th June 1941 in the famous 2/13 Battalion, which fought in the North African Campaign at Tobruk. The Australians were besieged by, but resisted for eight months against the might of the German Afrika Korps under Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. Robert Bantin became one of the legendary ‘Rats of Tobruk’.
Robert had only arrived in the Middle East battlefields in early June 1941 before being wounded on the 1st of December. He was subsequently evacuated and loaded aboard the “SS Chakdina”, but drowned as a result of the ship being torpedoed in the Mediterranean by an enemy Italian aircraft on the night of the 5th December 1941.
Sinking of the “S.S. Chakdina”
“Late in the afternoon of 5 December 1941 the SS Chakdina left Tobruk Harbour, Libya carrying approximately 380 wounded Allied soldiers, 100 German and Italian Prisoners of War and 120 crew. A number of other Allied soldiers also boarded the ship, to be transported back to Egypt. At least 123 New Zealanders were aboard the ship when it set sail.
Just after 9pm an enemy plane released a torpedo, which exploded in one of the after holds of the Chakdina. She sank within three and a half minutes. There was very little chance of escape, except for those who were not wounded or only lightly wounded, and who were in a favourable position to abandon ship at the time. Forty one of the New Zealand crew aboard including a small number of the wounded were picked up by the destroyer “HMS Farndale” and the antisubmarine/minesweeper “HMS Thorgrim.” The Farndale took most of the survivors to Alexandria where on 7th December, the casualties were admitted to the detachment of 3 NZ General Hospital. The Thorgrim took the survivors it had onboard to Mersa Matuh. The sinking of the “Chakdina” was the only major misfortune in the evacuation of New Zealand wounded during World War II.” The memorial for Robert John Bantin, whose body was never recovered, is located at the El Alamein Memorial, Egypt.
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