The AIF Project

Robert William Wylie ADAM

Regimental number1901
Date of birth1890
Place of birthPerth, Western Australia
SchoolPreparatory School, East Molesey, Surrey, and School House, Rugby, England
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationFarmer
AddressBeverley, Western Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Next of kinMother, Mrs Jane E Adam, The Mount Heath Street, Hampstead, England
Previous military serviceServed in the Rugby School Cadets Corps and Shooting.
Enlistment date3 February 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll3 February 1915
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name11th Battalion, 5th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/28/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A20 Hororata on 26 April 1915
Rank from Nominal RollSergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll11th Battalion
Recommendations (Medals and Awards)

Military Medal


'For conspicuous gallantry. During an intense bombardment by the enemy on the front line defences they showed great resource and courage and immediately the bombardment was lifted off the parapet, occupied the debris and by fire prevented a raiding party from destroying important underground works in the line.'
Not awarded.
Recommendation date: Unspecified

FateDied of wounds 27 July 1916
Place of death or woundingPozieres, Somme Sector, France
Date of death26 July 1916
Age at death26
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian 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
61
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Note, Red Cross File No 00210069: 'No trace Germany[.] Cert. by Capt. Mills. 10.10.19.'

Statement, 5169 Pte C. OATES, A Company, 11th Bn, 20 September 1916: 'Informant states that on July 26th 1916 at Pozieres, Adam was brought in on a stretcher with both legs shattered. He died on the way to the dressing station.'

Medals: Military Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesRed Cross File No 00210069

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