Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

 
#2234 HATRICK Robert Ellis               AN&MEF / 15th Battalion
Robert Hatrick was born near Hamilton, New Zealand to parents James and Lizzie Hatrick. He spent the first 20 years of his life in New Zealand before crossing the Tasman to Australia around 1905 to pursue a naval career. Robert stated to recruiters that he had served 3 years with the Commonwealth Naval Force (forerunner to the Royal Australian Navy) followed by a further six years in the naval reserves.
When the 1st World War broke out in August 1914, the British government requested that Australia mount an expeditionary force to secure German possessions in German New Guinea and the Western Pacific, particularly the wireless station at Rabaul which provided radio communication to Admiral Graf von Spee’s East Asia squadron, based in the Chinese port of Qingdao. An initial force of 2,000 men comprising 1,000 army volunteers, 500 militia from North Queensland and 500 Naval reservists was raised by advertising for volunteers in newspapers. Robert Hatrick, as a current Naval Reservist volunteered and was accepted into the AN&MEF
 
The force, designated the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, was raised primarily in Sydney and sailed to Thursday Island on 19th August 1914, barely a fortnight since war had been declared. In 1914, the island of New Guinea was divided between Dutch New Guinea in the west, German New Guinea in the upper part of the eastern half, and Papua, administered by Australia, in the lower eastern sector. The expeditionary force, supported by a number of ships of the RAN, sailed from Thursday Island to Port Moresby in Papua and then on to Rabaul on the island of New Britain to capture the radio station. Robert’s mother, when completing the Roll of Honour Circular, stated that Robert was one of 13 sailors who took possession of the station on 13th September 1914, the first active involvement of an Australian force in the war.
 
Once the radio equipment was seized and the German garrison imprisoned, the ANMEF was replaced by the Tropical Force which would garrison the former German territory for the remainder of the war. The majority of the AN&MEF returned to Australia where they were discharged. Many of those men, including Robert, re-enlisted in the AIF.
Robert presented himself for enlistment at Adelaide Street, Brisbane on 4th June 1915. He stated his previous experience in the navy and the expeditionary force. Robert was then 30 years old and stated his occupation as sailor. He gave an address of Marmoor, a small farming community south of Rockhampton and named his father James of Papakura near Auckland NZ as his next of kin. There is no direct link between Robert and the Bell district and it can only be assumed that he may have worked in the district at some time or that a resident of Bell knew him and listed his name on the Bell War Memorial.
 
Eight days after enlisting and with barely enough time to be fitted with uniform and kit, Robert boarded the “Karoola” in Brisbane as part of the 6th reinforcements for the 15th Battalion. The reinforcements landed in Egypt in July and were quickly processed and sent to the staging camps on the island of Mudros. A series of offensives was planned for the Anzac sector on Gallipoli for the month of August and reinforcements were hastily taken on by battalions to bring them up to full strength.
 
Birdwood, the British Commander at Anzac, was under some pressure from his superiors to secure a breakthrough to the heights above the Anzac beach-head. The ultimate goal was the commanding hill named Chunuk Bair and in early August, a series of coordinated attacks was planned to drive the Turks from the high ground.  The first of these offensives (a diversion really) was the attack on Lone Pine (where seven of the nine Victoria Crosses awarded to the AIF on Gallipoli were won) and the ill-fated charge by the Light Horse at the Nek; followed by a second landing of British troops at Suvla Bay. The main offensive was planned for the northern sector of the Anzac beachhead which entailed an advance at night along the beach before turning inland to scale a series of ridges towards the heights of Hill 971 also known as Sari Bair. The 4th Brigade under the command of Brigadier General John Monash was comprised of four battalions, including the 15th. The 4th Brigade would be part of the assault on Sari Bair on 8th August.
 
As was often the case at Anzac, the planning did not live up to expectations. None of the officers leading the 4th Brigade advance had actually reconnoitred the area and the orders issued bore no appreciation of the terrain. The 4th Brigade soon found themselves lost in the dark in a bewildering tangle of gullies; primarily due to a reliance on Greek guides, who provided advice via interpreters, rather than the maps which had been issued. The advance soon encountered heavy resistance among the scrub and thorn bushes. It was soon apparent that no advance could be made and Monash ordered a withdrawal. When the battalions of the brigade were able to regroup, it was found that as well as those killed or wounded, a significant number of both officers and other ranks were missing.
 
Among the missing was Robert Hatrick. Robert had only been with the battalion for six days and few men knew who he was. There was certainly no likelihood that any one could provide any details surrounding his disappearance in the dark. It was not until April 1916 that a court of inquiry determined that Robert Hatrick had been Killed in Action on 8th August 1915. His name appears on the memorial plaques of the Lone Pine Memorial in the company almost 5,000 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who perished in the Anzac sector and have no known grave.