Robert Knight
Name: ROBERT OLIVER KNIGHT
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service Number: 3802
Units Served: 12th reinforcement for the 7th Battalion, and 57th Battalion
Personal Details: Robert Oliver Knight was born on the 23rd of August 1896, in Bendigo, Victoria and was the son of Alfred and Mary Knight.
Enlistment Details: At the age of 20, Robert enlisted on the 8th of July 1915 and was posted to the 7th Infantry battalion as the 12th reinforcement as a Private.
Details about his role in War: Single and at the age of 19 years and 11 months, Robert Oliver Knight, before enlisting for the “war to end all wars” worked as a gardener. He embarked from Melbourne aboard the “Ceramic” on the 23rd of November 1915.
Robert joined the 57th Battalion on the 3rd of March 1917 and was appointed Lance Corporal on the 24th November 1916. He proceeded to do training camps in England and other countries.
Robert was in hospital multiple times with tonsillitis, influenza and general sickness. Robert was in hospital on 19/9/1917 for gun shot wounds to both thighs, he was in hospital for 33 days.
Robert now lies along with 300 other men who made the supreme sacrifice in the LA Plus Douve Farm cemetery.
On Monday the 25th of February 1918, this fair hair and blued man, Robert Oliver Knight was killed in action in France.
Age at Death: 21 years and 6 months
Memorial Details: LA PLUS DOUVE FARM CEMETERY, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium
Interesting Material: Robert had a brother, Alfred Ernest Knight who returned home from the war. Alfred was awarded the “Military Medal” for “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the operation between Bellicourt and Nauroy, on the 29th of September 1918. This was after he was wounded in May 1918, again in June 1918 and then again on September the 29th 1918.
