Site Home
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.
Great War Home
Search
Add Stories & Photos
Library
Help & FAQs
Features
Allied Army
Day by Day
RFC & RAF
Prisoners of War
War at Sea
Training for War
The Battles
Those Who Served
Hospitals
Civilian Service
Women at War
The War Effort
Central Powers Army
Central Powers Navy
Imperial Air Service
Library
World War Two
Submissions
Add Stories & Photos
Time Capsule
Information
Help & FAQs
Glossary
Our Facebook Page
Volunteering
News
Events
Contact us
Great War Books
About
236275Pte. James Robertson
Australian Imperial Force 14th Field Artillery Brigade
from:Beaudesert, Queensland
My grandfather James Robertson emigrated from Glasgow to Queensland in 1909 aged 16, together with his widowed father and younger brother. He married in 1913 and his first daughter was born in 1914. Both he and his younger brother volunteered and enlisted in September 1915. They were first shipped to Egypt aboard the "Kyarra" in January 1916, disembarking at Alexandria in February 1916. Both were 'taken on strength' at Serapum. I believe that they took part in what's described as the 'never-to-be-forgotten' march from Tel-el-Kebir to Ferry's Post. They were shipped to France in August 1916 and the records suggest James fought at Fromelles. In January 1917 James was reported having 'oedema of the foot' and was shipped to England. He was at Southwark Military Hospital from 1st February until 17th February 1917 and then taken to Larkhill on Salilsbury Plain. Altogether he was out of action for 18 months and only returned to France toward the end of the war. On 31st January 1918 it is reported he was a gunner attached for duty with Permanent Cadre of Reserve Brigade Australian Army, Heytesbury, Wiltshire.On 8th October 1918 he left Southampton for France, on 2nd November 1918 he was wounded in action and reported as being gassed. As we all know, nine days later the war ended. However, not until 30th March 1919 did he leave France for England. And not until 15th May 1919 did he finally sail, aboard the Orontes back to Australia. My mother was born in 1923.
In 1946 my grandfather obviously had not had enough of war and he put his age down by nine years and volunteered again. This time he was made a POW of the Japanese in Singapore and shipped to Siam where I can only assume he took part in helping to build the Siam-Burma railway. Amazingly, he survived WW2 also and lived to be 66 years old. He never lost his strong Glaswegian accent and, to my knowledge, he never spoke about what he'd seen or done.
The postscript to this story is that I moved from Australia to England in 1973 and have lived in East Dulwich since 1991. I had no idea that my grandfather had been in East Dulwich until a year ago and still can't quite believe it.
Related Content:
Can you help us to add to our records?
The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them
Did your relative live through the Great War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial?
If so please let us know.
Do you know the location of a Great War "Roll of Honour?"We are very keen to track down these often forgotten documents and obtain photographs and transcriptions of the names recorded so that they will be available for all to remember.
Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice.
Celebrate your own Family History
Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Great War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc.
Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.
The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers.
This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.
If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.
Hosted by:
Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved -We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.