Robertson, Samuel Farmer
No.6811 – Private Samuel Robertson – 11th Battalion AIF
Samuel Farmer Robertson was born in Ballarat Victoria in 1870 to Charles and Christina Robertson. He was one of 14 siblings and was educated in Ballarat and after leaving school he took up work as a labourer and later as a miner. In 1895 he married an Elizabeth Robertson and they soon moved to Kalgoorlie WA. After eleven years of marriage Sam left Kalgoorlie and went to Fremantle where he began a defacto relationship with a Miss A.M. Tyrell. During the next few years Sam worked as a labourer and resided at Jackson St North Fremantle.
On the 26th July 1916 he went to the Fremantle Drill Hall to enlist in the AIF. The medical examiner found Sam to be 5 feet 6 inches tall; weight of 147 lbs; chest measurement of 33-35 inches; fresh complexion; blue eyes and fair hair. His religious denomination was Presbyterian. Upon his successful enlistment Sam was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was allotted to No.80 Training Depot. On the 15th August he was transferred to the 23rd Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion AIF.
Sam remained with this group for just over a fortnight as on the 4th September 1916 he was again transferred, this time to the 22nd Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion. The next two months were spent training in WA while they waited for their embarkation orders to come through. These finally arrived and on the 9th November 1916 they boarded the HMAT Argyllshire in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for England.
The long sea voyage took just on two months as the ship berthed at Plymouth Harbour on the 10th January 1917. Upon being disembarked the men were marched into the 3rd Training Battalion at Durrington Camp on the Salisbury Plains. Sam remained here for the first three months of 1917 while they received further training to prepare them for the Western Front. During this time in England Sam would also have received ample to leave to see the sights of England.
On the 5th April 1917 Sam was put in a draft of reinforcements that left Durrington camp and proceeded to Folkestone Harbour. They boarded a troopship and set sail across the Channel for France. On arrival in Etaples Sam was marched into the 1st Australian Division Base Depot. He would spend 15 days here on further training, including at the infamous “Bull Ring”. Sam finally received his orders to join his unit and he was taken on strength of the 11th Battalion on the 24th April 1917.
The 11th Battalion were then in the vicinity of Lagnicourt where they had been holding a portion of the line facing the Hindenburg Line. On the 3rd May 1917 the 2nd Division attacked the Bullecourt positions in the Hindenburg Line and managed to capture a section of the German position. All the Brigades of the 2nd Division were used up in retaining what they had captured and they were then soon reinforced by the 1st Division units. On the 6th May 1917 the 11th Battalion were drawn into the Bullecourt battle and were constantly in action as they defended against ferocious German counter attacks. During the 6th May Sam was initially listed as wounded in action and missing but he was not seen again after the battle and a later court of enquiry stated that Sam was killed in action during this battle. One eyewitness stated that Sam was killed when an artillery shell landed in his dugout and blew him to pieces.
Sam’s body was subsequently never recovered and he is therefore commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
Both his actual wife in Kalgoorlie and his defacto in North Fremantle made claims for his medals so the Department of Defence ended up splitting his medals between the two of them.