Stephen Henry Robson
From Our Contribution
 Sunday Times 10 Sep 1916 | |
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth |
not known "not known" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation. |
| Place of Birth | Canning Mill, Western Australia |
| Death | 25 Jul 1916 |
| Place of Death | Pozieres, France |
| Age at Enlistment | 31 years old |
| Description |
6'1¼" (1.87m) tall ; 177 lbs 80.286 kg ; medium complexion ; grey eyes ; dark brown hair |
| Occupation | Farrier |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Address | NOK 47 Lake street, Perth, Western Austalia |
| Next of Kin | Step Brother , Mr William Robson |
| Military Information | |
| Reg Number | 2831 |
| Date of Enlistment | 3 Jul 1915 |
| Rank | Driver |
| Unit/Formation | 11th Battalion, 9th Reinforcement / 3rd Brigade, 1st Division |
| Date of Embarkation | 5 Oct 1915 |
| Ship Embarked On | HMAT A20 Hororata |
| Fate | Killed in Action 25 Jul 1916 Poziéres, France |
| Monument |
Villers-Bretonneux Memorial Australian War Memorial |
| Medals |
1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal |
Contents
Pre War
Served for 2 years with the 3rd Western Australian contingent to the Boer War.
Electoral Roll entries - 1910 Lucknow, blacksmith; 1912 Worsley, mill hand; 1913 Victoria street, Bunbury, labourer
War Service
On entering camp, Stephen was allocated to the 9th reinforcement draft for the 11th Battalion, and travelled with it to Egypt. Before travelling, however, he was charged at Blackboy Hill with having been AWOL from 8 Sep 1915 until 10 Sep 1915. Only punishment appears to be that he forfeits 2 days pay.
At Habieta, Egypt, while with a Training Battalion waiting to be taken on by the 11th Battalion he was on 29 Dec 1915 charged with being absent from the 7:00am parade on 27 Dec 1915. For this he was awarded 6 days confined to barracks.
Taken on strength by the 11th Battalion on 7 Jan 1916 he was allocated to A Company in Tel-el-Kebir, and on 30 Jan 1916 at Habieta, Egypt was appointed Pack Animal Driver.
He boarded HMT Corsican at Alexandria on 29 Mar 1916 to travel to Marseilles and join the British Expeditionary Forces in France. They arrived in Marseilles on 5 Apr 1916, and moved to the area known as the "nursery" - the front lines south of Ypres and north of the Somme.
In the early morning of 23 Jul 1916 the battalion was a part of the first attack on enemy positions at Poziéres. A Company was a part of the first line of attackers, but it is not clear if Stephan was with them, in which case the date of his death could be 23 Jul 1916. Officially Stephen's death is listed to of occurred between 22 and 25 Jul 1916. However, given that the attack didn't start until after midnight 22 July, that Stephen's body was never found, his role in the battalion, and that on 25 Jul 1916 from 6:30am until 6:00pm the enemy carried out one of the heaviest bombardments of the war, it is likely that he was killed during this period.
Notes
1. Newspaper report states he was of York and Mundijong. Born in Canning Mills.
2. While the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website advises that Stephen's name is included on the 11th Battalion's panel of the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, a 2015 photograph of the panel shows that his name is not listed.
3. Although he gave his step-brother as NOK, his medals, plaques, etc. were issued to a full sister Catherine Citroni.