Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

He was 26 and the son of William and Jessie Rankine.

He features in the book of remembrance for Tweeddale. [Roll of honour of Peebleshire men killed in the Great War, 1914-1918. With portraits.]

From Francois Berthout

Pte 6077 Robert Rankine
2nd Australian Infantry Battalion,
1st Brigade, 1st Australian Division 
 
 
On the fields of the Somme, red with thousands of poppies swaying in the first rays of a spring sun, are heard in murmurs and echoes, the distant past of thousands of young men who, on these sacred grounds gorged with blood, side by side, served with pride and fought with bravery in the darkness of the trenches and who, determined, in the prime of their lives, went over the top and charged under the deadly fire of raging machine guns that spat, in torrents of bullets and lead, death and despair, but, guided by the most beautiful camaraderie, by love of their country, in these quagmires, despite the fury and brutality they faced, went bayonet forward into the heart of darkness so that the light that shone in their hearts, in their hopes for a better world, might bring peace and freedom. Together, fought like lions and among the barbed wire, among the shells that fell all around them in mournful thunders, they sacrificed their youth and lost their innocence swept away by the madness of a war that set the world ablaze but alongside their friends, despite what they endured and went through, they never backed down and gave, in a last impetus, for us and future generations, their today and their lives so that we can have a life, a tomorrow whose price was that of the lost lives of thousands of young boys who, in the eternal shroud of poppies, rest in peace united in an eternal brotherhood and in the light of remembrance through which they will live forever.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and with the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 6077 Robert Rankine who fought in the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Australian Division, and who died of his wounds 106 years ago, on April 10, 1917 at the age of 26 on the Somme front.

Robert Rankine was born in 1891 in Laurieton, New South Wales, Australia, and was the eldest son of William and Jessie Rankine who emigrated from Peebles, Scotland, in 1882 to Australia and settled in Laurieton where Robert was educated in Public School then after graduation, like his father before him, worked as a plumber and lived shortly before the outbreak of the war at the Post Office, Riverstone, New South Wales.Robert was a very good sportsman and was a prominent member of the Riverstone Football Club with whom he won many competitions.

Robert enlisted on March 18, 1916 at the Sydney Showgrounds Camp,Sydney, New South Wales, in the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 19th Reinforcement, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Stevens who, at the end of 1915, replaced Lieutenant Colonel George Braund, a citizen soldier and Member of Parliament in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, who held the seat of Armidale then Lieutenant Colonel Robert Scobie who were both killed in action at Gallipoli. After a five month training period at Liverpool Camp, South West from Sydney, where he distinguished himself as an exellent and accurate shooter during a battalion competition, he embarked with his unit from Sydney, on board HMAT A18 Wiltshire on August 22, 1916 and sailed for England.
On October 13, 1916, Robert arrived in England and was disembarked at Plymouth where a little over a week later, on October 25, he absented himself without leave from 7:30am to 4pm and was awarded a two-day forfeiture of pay. After this slight incident,on October 27, he was sent to the 1st Training Battalion at Bovington Camp and, on Salisbury Plain, again distinguished himself as a formidable marksman,then two months later, on December 13, 1916, he proceeded overseas for France from Folkestone, on board SS Arundel.

On December 14, 1916, after a quick trip down the English Channel, Robert finally arrived in France and was disembarked at Etaples where he joined the 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot and was taken on strength in the 2nd Battalion (with a strength of 771 men) on January 18, 1917 in Contay,Somme,and followed here a period of training including new forms of attacks with the support of artillery barrages then, on January 23, marched for the Becourt C Camp, located in the woods next to the current Becourt Military Cemetery and, in particularly cold weather, remained there until January 26. The next day, they moved to Bazentin-Le-Petit and relieved the 5th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry on the front line at Eaucourt-l'Abbeye where the 2nd Battalion built a new trench line called "Pioneer Avenue". Just in front of them, the Germans also worked to reinforce their positions but were a each time pounded by the australian artillery which was in constant contact with scouts informing them of enemy work rendered ineffective and impossible in this sector.

On February 4, 1917, the men of the 2nd Battalion were relieved by the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion and moved back to Bazentin-Le-Petit, at "Bazentin Camp" in frosty weather then on February 8, moved into support trenches from where they relieved the 1st Australian Infantry Battalion and were mainly employed in working parties. Two days later, on February 10, the 2nd Battalion was relieved by the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion and moved by march to Mametz Camp and suffered some casualties here due to enemy shells then, on February 25, each man was equipped with two sandbags, two grenades, 100 bullets, two days of rations and marched towards the city Albert where they were placed in reserve on a position called "Cough Drop" and faced a particularly cold weather including heavy snowfall then on March 5, through thick fog, marched to Fricourt C Camp where they remained until March 7.

On March 8, 1917, still under heavy snow, Robert and the 2nd Battalion left Albert and marched into Billets at Dernancourt and followed a new period of training here but also had hot baths and clean clothes, which improved their comfort and allowed them to keep their morale high. A little over a week later, on March 16, they moved back to Fricourt C Camp and during the days that followed, under more pleasant weather, followed tactical exercises but were able to also have some rest. On March 22, under the sun of the Somme, they marched for Ribemont and remained there until April 2.

On April 3, 1917, the 2nd Battalion marched for Montauban then for Haplincourt (Pas-De-Calais) the following day and entered here on a front line called "Beugny-Ytres Line" which they held with courage. Shortly after , on April 7, the battalion received the order to move a few kilometers to the north, towards Hermies where an Australian attack was planned to retake the village then in the hands of the Germans and whose capture would allow the allies to advance towards Bullecourt.

On April 9, 1917, in unfavorable weather, snow and wind, the men of the 2nd Battalion advanced to their front line trenches and jumping off point at 3:30 a.m. and then at 4:15 a.m., went over the top and faced numerous fortified points protected by machine guns and automatic rifles. Despite catastrophic losses and very hard fighting, the Australians broke through enemy lines at 6:15 a.m. and at 6:50 a.m., captured the village of Hermies. After this tactical success, it was written in the battalion's war diary: "The position was an excellent one and we were soon prepared to deal with counter-attacks, but none developed."
Unfortunately, during the attack on Hermies, Robert was seriously injured by a gun shot wound in the abdomen and was immediately admitted to the 3rd Field Ambulance then transferred to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station in Pozieres, in the Somme, where despite the care he received, he died the next day at the age of 26.

Today, Robert Rankine rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Pozieres British Cemetery, Ovillers-La-Boisselle, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "Only good-night beloved, not good-bye our loved one."
Robert, young and animated by great courage, it is with faith and loyalty that you answered the call of duty to bring new hope to the world, to do what, through your eyes, was right and which, in an unstoppable momentum, gathered thousands of young men who left their fields, the warmth of their homes and their golden lands of Australia for an unknown destination, for a journey which they had been told would be the greatest adventure of their lives for them who had the deep desire to live and discover the world through their innocent eyes which were not ready for the horrors of the battlefields but carried away by the ardor of their youth and by the childish smile of their comrades , they signed and wore their uniform with immense pride, with in their hearts the feeling of doing something great and noble alongside men and veterans whom they saw as heroes and under a last ray of sunshine, after a last farewell to their families, with heavy hearts and on the verge of unshed tears, embracing one last time their mothers, their sisters, all that was their world, followed their mates and embarked on slow boats wondering what would be their fate away from home.Without fear and in the calm of the ocean they crossed, they wrote in trembling lines a possible last letter hoping that their families would never have to read them and in the silence of the waves and the foam breaking on the hull of their liner, they were told that they were going to fight in France, a country they knew little but from which they learned so much and in the Somme, in the villages in ruins, walking alongside corpses of horses , they saw young children with faces blackened and enamelled by suffering and knew why they were going to fight, for peace and freedom, for a whole country on the verge of chaos but nevertheless, in these first hours of contact with a world at war , they also saw born in the eyes of the French people a new hope, a new reason to resist against the darkness of war and when they saw the Diggers for the first time, they came to take them in their arms, to give them a little food, tobacco and wine and in French families, were quickly adopted and loved like our sons who fought with us with determination and in the trenches, they saw the same look full of hopes of our Poilus who after having fought with the Australians said of them that they were the bravest men they had ever seen, that they always stood tall and proud, smiling and full of will despite the hell they went through on the devastated fields of Pozieres, of the Mouquet Farm, of Amiens and of Villers-Bretonneux and that they were honored to fight with them, in the camaraderie and the friendship which united our two countries and which was born more than a hundred years ago, on these sacred grounds where so many young Australians and Frenchmen fought and fell side by side. With them we learned what real mateship was, we learned about the sacred fire that drove them forward through bullets and shells, love of country and honor of the ANZAC spirit, a spirit of courage and determination, of common efforts and gallantry, of unity and sacrifice, of humanity in the face of adversity, an esprit de corps that kept these young men strong in the face of the hell they endured, a spirit that we are still proud to remember today and to perpetuate by keeping alive the memory of these heroes who did so much for us and to whom we owe so much because today, if we are free, if we have a life and a world in peace, it is thanks to young Australians and all their brothers in arms who fought in a common front and who together, for their country and for what were dear to them, gave their today, their lives and their all on the fields of blood red poppies which remind us each day of what they lived day and night so that we can stand united under a more peaceful sun.Today silent, the old battlefields carry on them thousands of white graves of thousands of those men who, having come from the other side of the world and who here in France, in the Somme, will always be loved and remembered as our sons and will be forever, in my heart, my boys of the Somme on whom I will always watch with the greatest care and the deepest love so that their names live forever.

Thank you so much Robert, for all you and your comrades have done for my country and here, the spirit of Australia, the ANZAC spirit will live on forever. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him,we will remember them.