Date of birth | |
Place of birth | Hobart, Tasmania |
School | Hutchins School, Hobart, Tasmania |
Other training | Bachelor of Laws, University of Tasmania |
Religion | Church of England |
Occupation | Solicitor |
Address | Hobart, Tasmania |
Marital status | Single |
Age at embarkation | 34 |
Next of kin | Sister, Miss Madoline B Adams, c/o Clerk, Walker and Hore, 116 Collins Street, Hobart, Tasmania |
Previous military service | Served for 18 months in School Cadets. |
Enlistment date | |
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll | |
Place of enlistment | Hobart, Tasmania |
Rank on enlistment | 2nd Lieutenant |
Unit name | 12th Battalion, 21st Reinforcement |
AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/29/4 |
Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A17 Port Lincoln on |
Rank from Nominal Roll | 2nd Lieutenant |
Unit from Nominal Roll | 12th Battalion |
Fate | Killed in Action |
Place of death or wounding | Bullecourt, France |
Date of death | |
Age at death | 33 |
Age at death from cemetery records | 33 |
Place of burial | No known grave |
Commemoration details | Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy. The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra. On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours. After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns. |
Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 64 |
Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: Robert Patten and Kate ADAMS |
Other details |
War service: Western Front Embarked Melbourne, 20 October 1916; transshipped to 'Arcanius', Sierra Leone, 4 December 1916; disembarked Devonport, England, 28 December 1916; marched in to 3rd Training Bn, Durrington, 29 December 1916. Attended 8th Rifle Course, School of Musketry, Tidworth, 26 February-22 March 1917: qualified 1st Class, with 'fair working knowledge of the Lewis Gun'. Proceeded overseas to France, 20 April 1917; taken on strength, 12th Bn, in the field, 25 April 1917. Killed in action, 6 May 1917. Note on file, T/Commanding Officer, 12th Bn,27 January 1919: '2/Lieut. R. ADAMS was killed in action during the advance at BULLECOURT on 6.5.17. by shell-fire. Owing to the intense barrage put down by Germans it was not possible to bring in his remains out of the line for burial, and a grave was dug where he fell by members of his platoon. It is regretted that no location of grave was forwarded to this Office.' Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Sources | NAA: B2455, ADAMS Raymond |