Année de naissance: 1895

Lieu de naissance: Ipswich, Queensland, Australia

Profession: Comptable

Pays: Australia

Force armée: Australian Imperial Force

Rang: Private

Numéro de service: 6557

Incorporation date: 03/07/1916

Incorporation nom de lieu: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Unités:  —  Australian Infantry, 49th Bn.  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 12/10/1917

Lieu de décès: Romulus Wood, Belgique

Cause du décès: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Âge: 22

British War Medal Médaille

Victory Medal Médaille

Private Robert Vesey Fitzgerald served in the Australian Infantry 49th Battalion, part of the 13th Australian Brigade, of the 4th Australian Division.

On the 12th of October 1917 the 4th Division participated in the First Battle of Passchendaele. The Division advanced with two Brigades, the 12th and the 13th. The former was to lead the attack, while the latter held the front line in support.

At 5.20 am the 12th Brigade advanced towards its first objective, which was reached on time by the 47th Battalion. The 48th Battalion pressed on and was able to take Assyria. However, due to German counter-attacks, they were eventually forced to leave the position.

In the meantime the 13th Brigade was holding the original front line in support of the attack. The 49th Battalion was part of one of two battalions who held the line near Tokio and Zonnebeke Lake. The Germans were continuously shelling the Australian positions, which resulted in an unusually high number of casualties.

Private Robert Vesey Fitzgerald was killed in action on the 12th of October 1917, close to Romulus Wood, near the Red Line, the first objective. He was possibly killed by German shellfire at the Red Line, possibly while assisting or supplying the 47th Battalion. His remains were exhumed after the war and reinterred in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood.

49th Australian Infantry Battalion, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/66/17). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources utilisées

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, FITZGERALD R V). https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx Sources utilisées

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480222

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=7a386a6e-f5ed-4ec3-9e47-f8c17c66cf8c

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7437579

The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=98550