LANDER, Robert
| Service Number: | 1789 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Light Trench Mortar Batteries |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Dec 1916: | Involvement Private, 1789, Light Trench Mortar Batteries, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Orsova embarkation_ship_number: A67 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Dec 1916: | Embarked Private, 1789, Light Trench Mortar Batteries, HMAT Orsova, Sydney |
Our Family ANZACS - R Lander
Robert Lander
Enlisted 24 January 1916 – 13th Light Trench Mortar Battery – No 1789
Robert was 21 when he signed up as a gunner in 1916. He had been a member of the 14th Battery of the Australian Field Artillery for two years and left to enlist as soon as he could after reaching the minimum age. He had tried to join the infantry forces first but had been rejected as medically unfit.
He named his father George as his next of kin. He was 5 foot 5 inches tall with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair.
After being assigned around various batteries, he was with the 5th Light Trench Mortar Battery when he left Sydney on board the troopship Orsova on 2 December 1916, arriving in Plymouth, England on 17 February 1917 where he was transferred to the 16th Light Trench Mortar Battery that was training with the 6th Infantry Division on Salisbury Plain.
He was promoted to acting sergeant in May 1917 and then sergeant in September but a week later his unit was disbanded (as part of the disbanding of the 6th Infantry Division before it ever saw action). He was then transferred shortly after to the 13th Light Trench Mortar Battery serving with the 4th Division in France.
During the winter that followed he suffered from trench foot which left his feet deformed. The injury was sufficiently severe that after arriving back in England in January 1918 he was on his way back to Australia within a month on board the Balmoral Castle. He was discharged as medically unfit soon after arriving back in Sydney.
Robert married in 1919 and was 62 when he died in Sydney in 1956.
Glen O'Connor 2015
Submitted 9 January 2015 by Glendon O'Connor