He'd been interested in "military matters" from a young age in School Cadets and was an early volunteer for the Army. He left New Zealand on February 14, was wounded in the back and head at Gallipoli on August 8, 1915 and returned to the family home in Mornington, Dunedin to recover. He rejoined the Army as part of the 10th Reinforcements in March, 1916.
It would have hurt a lot when he sustained the injury - my guess is from a trench mortar round - which badly broke his thigh - a compound fracture. It would have hurt a lot, lying in the trench waiting for the stretcher bearers. It would have hurt a lot, lying on the stretcher being bounced past fellow soldiers whose faces wore a combination of sympathy, relief it wasn't them and fear that they might be next. NZ soldier turned politician (and excellent writer) John A Lee's description of his being taken to a nearby hospital after having his hand shattered - and being frequently dropped as his bearers sought shelter from falling shells - was so vivid I could barely read it. It would have seemed to be an eternity of pain until Robert reached the Clearing Station and received his first shot of morphine. It is possible that the relief of morphine was the last thing he experienced.
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| 2nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, |
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| Southern Cemetery, Dunedin. Photo: Allan Steel |
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