GILES, Robert O'Halloran
| Service Numbers: | Officer, Commissioned Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 January 2015 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | King Edward's Horse |
| Born: | Aldgate, Adelaide, South Australia, 28 January 1897 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Geelong Grammar School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Died of Wounds, Tournai, Belgium, 26 April 1918, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Tournai Communal Cemetery Allied Extension II F 6 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Crafers WW1 Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Apr 1918: | Involvement Second Lieutenant, Officer | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2015: | Enlisted Other Commonwealth Forces, Lieutenant, Commissioned Officer, King Edward's Horse |
Help us honour Robert O'Halloran Giles's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Peter Nemaric
Lieutenant December 1917.
OC of A Squadron 4th Troop, 1st King Edwards Horse.
Vieille Chapelle 9 April 1918...
...The 4th Troop who were always a proper lot of berserkers had made a fine fight of it. Owing to the mist and the short field of view to their front the enemy had been able to build up a strong line close to them and then poured all over the right of their line rolling them back along the trench. Sergeant Chadwick, the troop sergeant had been wounded and sent back just before the main attack. The C Squadron gun on the right was smashed and three out of its team of four were hit. Their own gun under L/Cpl Morgan fired 2,800 rounds up to point blank range before it was put out of action by a bullet. Poor Giles covered the retirement himself and was last seen standing up over the parapet (he stood 6ft 5ins in his socks) firing his revolver...
Wounded and taken Prisoner of War in defence of Vieille Chapelle, Huits Maisons and Fosse Bridgeheads 9, 10, 11 April 1918.
Geelong Grammar School and mentioned in "Geelong Grammarians at the Great War" ( James Affleck)
The Giles Memorial Window in the Chapel of All Saints, Geelong Grammar School commemorates Robert O'Halloran Giles.
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