The AIF Project

Gregor Gordon ROBERTSON

ReligionChurch of Christ
OccupationOfficer, Australian Permanent Forces
AddressBradshaw Creek, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation20
Height5' 10"
Weight145 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs. E. Robertson, Bradshaw Creek, Victoria
Previous military serviceGraduate of Royal Military College; Lieutenant, Australian Permanent Forces
Enlistment date1 July 1915
Rank on enlistmentLieutenant
Unit name31st Infantry Battalion, Regimental Signallers - Headquarters
AWM Embarkation Roll number28/48/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on 9 November 1915
Rank from Nominal RollCaptain
Unit from Nominal Roll31st Battalion
FateKilled in Action 20 July 1916
Age at death from cemetery records21
Place of burialTyne Cot Cemetery (Plot LXVII, Row F, Grave No. 12), Passchendaele, Belgium
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
119
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Alexander and Eliza ROBERTSON, "Bradshaw", 146 Victoria Street, Ballarat East, Victoria. Native of Bradshaw's Creek, Victoria
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Disembarked Suez, ex-HMT 'Wandilla', 7 December 1915.

Promoted to Captain, Serapeum, 20 February 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 16 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 23 June 1916.

Reported missing, 20 July 1916.

Placed on Seconded List, 20 July 1916.

Missing since, 20 July 1916, struck off strength, 20 October 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 1 August 1917, pronounced fate as 'Killed in Action, 20 July 1916'.

Statement, Red Cross File No 2320610, 234 Pte E.A. JOHNSON, A Company, 31st Bn (patient, Wharncliffe War Hospital, Sheffield, England), 18 August 1916: '[O]n the evening of July 19th at Fleurbaix I saw Capt. Robertson fall killed by a bullet in No man's (sic) Land. I then got wounded.'

Note on file: 'No trace Germany. Cert. by Capt. Mills. 10-10-19.'

Second statement, 432 Pte J.R. LESLIE, 31st Bn (patient, 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth, England), 24 July 1916: '[O]n July 19th Capt. Robertson was killed about 6 p.m. Pte. Sandeland who told him this, saw it happen.'

Third statement, 43 Corporal R. CAREW, HQ, 31st Bn (patient, 3rd Southern General Hospital, The Base, Oxford): '"Capt. Robertson was shot in the head and killed during the counter attack that morning." Informant was told this by other men in his Company about 2 o'clock in the afternoon ... '

Fourth statement, 225 Pte R.V. HODGES, 31st Bn, 4 August 1916: 'Capt. Robertson was in the charge at Fleurbaix. I saw him hit with shrapnel, he dropped and never moved, when I came back other men told me he was killed.'

Fifth statement, 1056 Pte S.D. LIVERMORE, A Company, 31st Bn, 4 August 1916: '[125] Pte "Benny" Austin, A Coy, 31st Batt, told me he saw Capt. Robertson fall as if killed before he got to the German barbed wire in front of their front line trenches at Fleurbaix on the night of July 19th.'

Sixth statement, 492 Pte F.W. SCHILT, 31st Bn, 4 August 1916: 'I crossed No man's (sic) land on the night of july 19th while the advance was on with a box of ammunition. I delivered it nd went back for another. On the way back someone drew my attention to Capt. Robertson's body lying there. I was about 12 yards away when first I saw it. This was about 11.30 p.m.'

Seventh statement, 125 Pte H.B. AUSTIN, 31stBn (patient, 4th London General Hospital, Denmark Hill, England), 5 August 1916: ' ... Capt. Roberston was killed just by the German lines. I saw him killed. He was hit by a bullet and just said "Oh" and dropped dead.'

Eighth statement, 176 Pte J. O'C. COMPTON, 31st Bn (patient, Leigh VAD Hospital, Kent, England), 8 August 1916: '[O]n 20th July 1916 at about 8.30 a.m. Capt. Robertson rallied his men in a final desperate effort to bomb the German trenches and was killed. Informant declares that he went out of his mind, as his conduct was most peculiar. He is said to have started bombing his own men instead of the Germans. He had previously been badly wounded in the head.'

Ninth statement, 2274 Pte E.A.W. BROWN, 31st Bn, 17 August 1916: ' ... I saw him fall in "No Man's Land" on July 19th 1916 at Fleurbaix, justin fornt of the German wire. He fell straight into a shell hole and doubled up as if dead ... The Germans never advanced to the places where I left him.'

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, ROBERTSON Gregor Gordon
Red Cross file 2320610

Print format    


© The AIF Project 2024, UNSW Canberra. Not to be reproduced without permission.