Crane, Robert George

Gosford District Casualties of World War One

Bragg, Edmund Allen Service Number 1494

Killed in Action 19th May 1915 Gallipoli Peninsula

Gosford District Casualties of World War One

Crane, Robert George Service Number 2810

Killed in Action 11th April 1917 Bullecourt, France

Gosford City Council gratefully acknowledges the voluntary efforts of

Benalyn Campbell

And Vivienne Tranter

in compiling this resource

The information in this file has been extracted from official records

held in the

The Australian War Memorial and

National Archives of Australia

(© Commonwealth of Australia [National Archives of Australia] 2013)

Further information on this soldier may be found online at:

Commonwealth War Graves

The AIF project

Content advisory: This file may potentially contain disturbing accounts of service-related injury and death, disease and family grief. Adult supervision is recommended for children

using these resources. Individual files should be viewed within the context

provided by wider research on service conditions in the 1st AIF.

This resource is presented by Gosford City Council

for research purposes only. Please note that copyright for resources

contained within remains with the original copyright owners.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en

NAME Crane, Robert George

SERVICE NO 2810

UNIT 13th Battalion/9

th Rienf/ 4

th Machine Gun Coy

RANK Lance Corporal

AGE at Enlistment 21 yrs 3 mths

PLACE OF BIRTH Wyong, NSW

ADDRESS

OCCUPATION Labourer

DATE OF ENLISTMENT 19 Jul 1915

PLACE OF ENLIST-MENT

Liverpool, NSW

PREVIOUS SERVICE 2½ yrs Militia

NEXT OF KIN Father;- Philip Crane, Wyong

PHYSICAL DESCRIP-TION

Height-5’5½”. Weight-160lbs. Chest-35-38

Complexion-Ruddy. Eyes-Grey. Hair-Fair.

RELIGION C/E

EMBARKED Sydney 6 Sep 1915 per HMAT A70 “Ballarat”

DISEMBARKED

NOTES Brother of Hector Philip Crane K

WOUNDED/ILLNESS

DIED 11 Apr 1917 Bullecourt, France GSW Head

BURIED

MEDALS 1914-15 Star-14277, British War Medal-17862, Victory Medal-17791. Memo-rial Plaque & Scroll-321236

DEPENDANTS

PERSONAL EFFECTS

WILL

CORRESPONDENCE Mr N Milton 37 Stewart St Paddington, NSW. Father;- Philip Crane Wyong, NSW

REMARKS Reportedly a good footballer. Held in high regard by fellow service men. Very good looking.

RED CROSS REPORT Died in “no mans land” at Bullecourt. Body not recovered possibly buried by Germans.

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. 8.5.1917. Pg. 6.

ROLL OF HONOR.

CRANE – KILLED IN ACTION, France, april 11, 1917, Lance-corporal G.R. Crane, late of Wyong. He did his best for his country. To know him is to love him. Inserted by his loving friend, Nell Milton.

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD 5.5.1917.

CRANE – Killed in action, France, April 11 1917, Lance-corporal G. R. Crane, Late of Wyong. He did his bit for his country. To know him was to love him. Inserted by his friend, Nell Milton.

GOSFORD TIMES 2.8.1917.

LETTER FROM FRANCE. A Soldier’s Death.

Mrs Crane, of Wyong, has received the following letter referring to the death of her soldier son:- France April 24 – Mrs Crane – Dear Madam – Long before you receive this letter news of your son’s death will have reached you, and though the grief you feel cannot be effaced it will bring pride to your heart and alleviate your suffering to know he went out do-ing the duty he so bravely left Australia to accomplish. Even amongst us, daily expecting these events, the news brought regret to us all, and now that we are back from the firing line again his cheery voice and manly ways are sadly missed. He was killed during the operations before the village on the night of April 11

th, and I regret I am unable to

inform you of the exact circumstances, as personally I was not in the line but in reserve, and the Brigade suffered such heavy casualties, that in our Company few men re-turned, none of them being able to let me know what actu-ally occurred, except that amongst others he was seen lying in a shell hole killed. I know this letter will not be much comfort to you, but we all thought it should be written even out of respect and as a token of appreciation for him. It is a duty I never expected, nor hoped to perform, and we all fully realize the intense grief you suffer, but bear up and always think of your gallant son as one, who, like many more of our brave Australians have done, both on Gallipoli and those bloody fields of France, has made the great sacrifice for his people and country. I have collected his few personal effects and posted them, although one small thing (a gold medal won in France as champion footballer in the unbeaten team of our Company) you would have prized greatly, he had with him. Please accept the sympa-thy of all his mates, and believe me, your sincere and sym-pathetic friend L. D. CAMPBELL.

GOSFORD TIMES 17.4.1919.

CRANE – In loving memory of our dear beother, Lance-Corporal Robert George, killed in action at Bulle-court, France, 11

th April, 1917.

Great love hath no man than this, Who laid down his life for his friends. Inserted by his loving brother and sister-in-law, Jack and Cassy.

GOSFORD TIMES 18.4.1918 ROLL OF HONOR. CRANE – In loving memory of our dear brother, Lance-Corporal Robert George, killed in action at Bulle-court, France, 11

th April, 1917.

Rest well brave heart we softly say Ye who for us your life laid down; The angels know your grave to-day, And weave for you the victor’s crown. Inserted by his loving brother and sister-in-law, Jack and Cassy.

Abridged record/s courtesy of the National Archives of Australia (NAA) Series No: B2455 Item Barcode: 3440684

Crane, Robert George

Documents

Transcript of Crane, Robert George