2675 Private Roy Phillip Hammer - 48th Battalion AIF
Roy Phillip Hammer was born in 1898 in Ballarat Victoria to Phillip and Martha Hammer. He was one of five siblings, with, Albert 1900, Leslie 1902, Harry 1904 and Arthur 1913.
The family moved to Western Australia in 1901 and took up residence in the Goldfields. Sadly their son Albert died in 1901 aged just 1 year old.
The family lived in the Goldfields till around 1910 when they moved to Fremantle. They took up residence at 14 Hulbert Street South Fremantle (later renumbered to 4 Hulbert). Roy had begun his education in Kalgoorlie and completed it in Fremantle. After leaving school he took up work as a Motor Driver and Chauffeur.
The 18 year old Roy enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force on the 15th May 1916 in Fremantle and was accepted. The medical examiner recorded his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 6 inches tall;
Weight - 120lbs;
Chest Measurement - 32-34 inches;
Complexion - Sallow;
Eyes - Brown;
Hair - Dark Brown.
His father Phillip enlisted two days after Roy and joined him at Blackboy Hill Camp. He spent a month at Blackboy Hill Camp in No.69 Training Depot. He was then assigned to the 22nd Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion AIF that were training at Belmont Camp. He spent around ten weeks training with this group but on the 5th September 1916, Roy and his father Phillip were transferred to the 6th Reinforcements to the 48th Battalion AIF.
They trained in WA for several more weeks and then on the 30th October 1916 entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship, HMAT Port Melbourne. The ship then set sail for England, arriving at Devonport Harbour on the 28th December 1916. The men were then disembarked and sent to the 12th Training Battalion at Codford Camp.
Roy spent a month training at Codford but then fell ill and was sent to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital at Bulford. He spent sixty days at Bulford and was then returned to Codford Camp on the 27th March 1917. He had a few more months of training in England and on the 2nd July 1917 was sent to France. Roy was then sent to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Le Havre. He was at Le Havre for three weeks but then faced a medical board who found that he was medically unfit for service on the Western Front.
On the 23rd July 1917 Roy was returned to England and was sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth where he would wait to be assigned a berth on a ship home. On the 25th August 1917 Roy boarded the transport ship Benalla and set sail for Australia. After arriving back in Fremantle Roy was discharged from the AIF on the 8th November 1917. He then returned home to Hulbert Street.
Roy was married in Fremantle to Mabel Olive Smallwood in 1918 and Phillip was born in 1924 (died 1925) and John in 1926.
Roy had secured employment with the WA Government Railways and by 1925 the family were living in Tambellup. They were living in the South West for the next few years.
In 1932 Roy's brother Les died suddenly in Fremantle. Les had been working as a Lumper on Fremantle wharf. Roy returned for the funeral and then the family moved back to Perth, setting up residence in Subiaco. They lived on Railway Road and Roy was still an employee of WA Government Railways.
They lived in Subiaco till the 1960's after which they moved to Butler Street in Willagee.
Roy died in May 1975 in Mt Lawley aged 76. He was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery and his ashes were placed into the family grave.
