RPAYC ACTIVITIES
ROLL OF HONOUR W . W . I
THE ROYAL PRINCE ALFRED YACHT CLUB
Having regard to the fact that 2015 was the centenary of the campaign in Gallipoli and that 2016 is the centenary of the Australian participation in the European campaign and some of the major battles of the war on the Western Front it is more than appropriate that the Club recognise the service and sacrifice of its members whose names are set down on the Roll of Honour Board which is presently hung in the Billiards Room .
Accordingly , brief details of the service of each of those named will be published over the forthcoming months together with any other relevant details which we have been able to glean from historical sources and extracts . It is sincerely hoped that in so doing the contribution of past members of this Club in the service of their country can be , once again , recognised .
ARCHIVES COMMITTEE – PETER KENNETT
GEORGE F . BESTIC
Served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in England during the War . Records are very sparse , however he attained the rank of Lieutenant and at one stage served on the vessel “ Greta ”. The RNVR was founded in 1903 of men who undertook naval training in their spare time . Many of the men who entered the RNVR were yachtsmen .
Members of the RNVR served ashore in the Dardanelles and the Western Front . Some were armed guards on merchant ships and others manned armed yachts and launches .
THOMAS PETER BLACK
Of Fairlight , Sydney , enlisted on 6 October 1914 . Mr Black was born in Inverness , Scotland , and was 32 years old at the date of enlistment .
His enlistment record indicates that he served in a cavalry regiment in South Africa prior to his emigration to Australia .
He was an Engineer by profession and worked for the Fairfield Ship Building Co . He was assigned to the 7th Light Horse H . O . Staff with the rank of Armourer Sergeant . He arrived on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 15 May 1915 .
He was diagnosed with bronchitis and appendicitis on 21 September 1915 and was medically evacuated to Malta on 24 September 1915 and later transferred to hospital in England .
He was repatriated to Australia in April 1916 and discharged as medically unfit for service on 16 August 1916 .
He was awarded the British War Medal , Victory Medal and the 1914 / 15 Star .
HENRY GEORGE CAMPBELL
Enlisted at the age of 27 on 16 February 1917 and was posted to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade , 28th Reinforcements . He embarked for France on 5 November 1917 via Southampton . He arrived in France on 13 March 1918 with the rank of Gunner .
He was gassed ( wounded in action ) whilst serving with the 10th Field Artillery Brigade on 1 October 1918 and was admitted to hospital . Following the Armistice on 11 November 1918 he returned to Australia and was discharged on 21 August 1919 .
He was awarded the 1914 / 15 Star , British War Medal and Victory Medal
GEORGE GORDON ALLARD Aged 26 at the date of enlistment . Occupation
Stockman of “ Capua ” Appian Way , Burwood .
G . G . Allard enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force ( Tropical Unit ) ( 1 Battalion ) which was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,800 men raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of war to seize and destroy German wireless stations in ( what was then ) German New Guinea . Such wireless stations were seen as a threat to merchant shipping in the region .
The formation of the AN & MEF was separate from the AIF , and comprised one battalion of infantry enlisted in Sydney together with naval reservists , ex-sailors and militia from Queensland and was known as the 1st Battalion AN & MEF .
The 1st Battalion AN & MEF departed Sydney on HMAS Berrima on 19th August 1914 .
The campaign was successful , rapidly achieving all objectives set by the War Office .
Mr . Allard was discharged from service on 4th March 1915 . He was awarded the 1914 / 15 Star , British War Medal and Victory Medal .
82 YACHTSMAN