Robert Hastings Joyce

Robert Hastings Joyce

Personal Information
Date of Birth	Not known 1898
Place of Birth	Gates Head on Tyne, England
Death	15 Mar 1987, aged 89
Place of Death	Armadale, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	18 years, 1 month
Description	5' 10½" (1.79m) tall ; 143 lbs 64.864 kg ; fresh complexion ; brown eyes ; dark brown hair
Occupation	Farm hand
Religion	Church of England
Address	Jandakot Post Office (Banjup)
Next of Kin	Father , Mr Patrick Joyce
Military Information
Reg Number	2675
Date of Enlistment	1 Sep 1916
Rank	Lance Corporal
Unit/Formation	44th Battalion, 5th Reinforcement / 11th Brigade, 3rd Division
Date of Embarkation	9 Nov 1916 ‒ 10 Jan 1917
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A8 Argyllshire
Date of Return	8 Jan 1919 ‒ 19 Feb 1919
Ship Returned On	SS Orsova
Fate	Wounded in Action 12 Oct 1917 at Passchendaele Returned to Australia
Monument	Banjup War Memorial
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

On entering camp, Robert was allocated to the 6th reinforcement draft for the 44th Battalion. However, after 6 weeks he was transferred to the 5th draft and soon after that he embarked for England aboard HMAT A8 Argyllshire.

On arrival in England on 19 Feb 1917 he was sent to the 11th Training Battalion in Durrington. His training was briefly interrupted on 2 Feb 1917 when he was admitted to the a Military Hospital with Influenza.

Robert proceeded overseas to France on 19 Apr 1917 via Folkestone, and on 23 Apr 1917 he and 57 other reinforcements were taken on strength of the 44th Battalion at Ploegsteert. Appointed Lance Corporal on 29 Jul 1917, he was made Temporary Corporal on 7 Oct 1917, before being wounded on 12 Oct 1917 while in the front line near Poperinghe. His injuries were deemed to be slight in the form of gunshot wounds to his chest and buttock.

He was embarked on the HS Ville de Liege for England on 6 Nov 1917, and in England he was admitted to the Edmonton Military Hospital. Passed on to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford from 10 - 16 Dec 1917, he was given a fortnight's leave before returning to France.

Robert again embarked for France on 1 May 1918 from Folkestone to rejoin his battalion where on 1 Jul 1918 he was promoted Temporary Corporal. On 31 Aug 1918 he had an abscess on his old wound, reverting to Lance Corporal when he left the battalion. Robert was invalided to England and admitted to the Beaufort War Hospital in Bristol on 3 Sep 1918. Robert was returned to Australia on his recovering aboard SS Orsova, disembarking on Fremantle on 19 Feb 1919. He was discharged by 5th Military District on 8 Apr 1919.

Mentioned on page 15 of The Drill of the Foot-Hills 1916 Oct-Nov edition.

Post War

Married Florence Munn in 1929. Electoral Roll entries - 1922 - 26 Newton road, Spearwood, a farmer; 1931 at 83 Queen Victoria street, Fremantle, a bricklayer, with Florence. 1936 - 1949 at 11 Fraser street, East Fremantle. In 1954 - 1963 they are at 2 Dandenong road, Attadale, moving in 1963 to 137 Melville parade, Como. In 1968 - 1980 retired and living at Gordon road in Serpentine

Notes

Mentioned on page 15 of The Drill of the Foot-Hills 1916 Oct-Nov edition. He is listed on the Banjup Memorial, but not included on the Spearwood Monument.

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial