I came across Robert Hunter in Trove.
Searching for information about my great great uncle, a signaller who was at the Gallipoli landing, I found instead a letter from a young Bob Hunter home to his family in Boulder. He briefly mentions Sergeant Tuckett in the letter, which was published in the Boulder Evening Star in June of 1915.
Bob, then a Corporal, was one of the first West Australians to enlist, his papers show he was Number 21 to enrol on 15 August 1914 at Kalgoorlie. He trained at Blackboy Hill before embarking on the Karoo from Melbourne on 20 October 1914. My great great uncle was on the same transport, and in fact is also mentioned elsewhere in Bob's service records in terms of a promotion. I expect they knew each other quite well.
Bob's letter home describes the weeks leading up to the landing at Gallipoli, and the weeks after - a period from 4 April to 16 May 1915. The events of that time are described in great detail by a young man who was to be promoted to Lieutenant by the end of the war, and was awarded a Military Cross twice. I think its a really moving story, and to get a first person point of view is very sobering - he discusses how the initial horror almost turns to complacency. His admiration for the soldiers and stretcher bearers is clear.
I wanted to find out his fate: fortunately, Bob made it home from the war. He married and had two daughters. He went on to work for the Australian Taxation Office, and lived in Cottesloe with his wife Merle until his death in 1949.
I haven't found any extensive family history research for the family, so I put together a small family tree on Wikitree based on what I could find in Trove and Ancestry. I have found at least one living descendant, so perhaps a family member will want to research him one day and will find this piece.
Bob also made several references to his fellow soldier George Sharp in his letter. George was shot in the thigh on 25 April, that infamous date we associate with the Gallipoli landing. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to narrow down which George Sharp he might have referred to - I have found a couple of George Sharps who enlisted that early, but none showing a gunshot wound from 25 April 1915. I think the most likely person is George Shirley Sharp/e, who was also in the 1st Australian Division Signals Company and embarked on 20 October 1914. George was also awarded a Military Medal and Military Cross for bravery.
He also describes the awful death of sapper John (Jack) Denny. Sapper Denny's Roll of Honour document also references my great great uncle Lewis Tuckett. Sapper Denny also had a brother who was killed during the Great War.
Robert Hunter wrote several other letters describing events in Turkey, although after 1916 no more were published in the newspapers. I have tagged them all in Trove with the tag "Robert Hunter - Signallers".
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