Robert Henry Fletcher

Robert Henry Fletcher

Personal Information
Date of Birth	15 Mar 1901
Place of Birth	Portarlington, Ireland
Age at Enlistment	41 years, 7 months
Occupation	truck driver
Religion	Church of England
Address	Forestry Department, Kelmscott, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs Hilda Maude Fletcher
Military Information
Reg Number	WX8614
Date of Enlistment	18 Oct 1940
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	HQ 2/1st Australian GD Battalion
Post War Details

War Service

Enlisted at Claremont camp, Robert was posted tot eh camp at Ascot within the week, and a month later on 22 Oct 1940 he was transferred from Ascot camp to Northam where he joined the 1st Training Battalion. On 12 Feb 1941, with basic training completed, Robert marched out of the 1st Training Battalion and joined the 2/11th Battalion reinforcements, then undergoing more advanced training with the 13th Training Battalion. Robert was hospitalised with an injury to his left ankle from 23 - 25 Apr 1941. On 6 May 1941 Robert was transferred from the 10th reinforcement draft for the 2/11th Battalion to the 9th draft and was then granted pre-embarkation leave from 6 - 12 May 1941.

Robert embarked on the HMT Aquitania on 5 Jul 1941 before it sailed with the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth as part of Convoy 11A. Sailing from Fremantle on 9 Jul 1941, they called at Colombo for five days before proceeding to Port Tewfik where they disembarked on 25 Jul 1941. On 6 Sep 1941 Robert finally joined the 2/11th Battalion at Julis camp in Syria where it was reforming after losing the majority of its men on Greece and Crete earlier that year. However, his stay with the battalion was brief, as on 28 Sep 1941 he was transferred to the Australian HQ Guard Battalion. On 9 Aug 1942 Robert was evacuated to the 2/8th Australian Field Ambulance with fibrositis, and a week later he was transferred to the 14th British Casualty Clearing Station, and then on 31 Aug 1942 to the 6th Australian General Hospital. On 9 Sep 1942 he was released to the 1st AUstralian Convalescent Depot, before returning to his unit on 17 Sep 1942.

On 26 Jan 1943 he boarded the L2 (HMT Aquitania??) for Fremantle, as part of the convoy that was code named "Operation Phamphlet. Their route home was complicated by the size of the ships being so large, not all troops could be embarked at the same time, and ships loaded and then waited at anchor off Massawa (Eritrea) in the Red Sea for the rest of the convoy to form up. Instead of travelling via Ceylon they sailed to a secret port built by the allies in the Addu Atoll (southern Maldives) where they refueled before arriving in Fremantle on 18 Feb 1943. On arrival in Australia, Robert was attached for duty to the 20th Brigade headquarters.

On 23 Mar 1943

discharged 2 Nov 1945

Post War

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