This Happened

ROBERT DEANS enlisted in the Australian Infantry Forces during WWI. This took place on 3 September 1916 at Bathurst, NSW into the 13th Battalion, 23rd Reinforcement. At the time he was living with his birth family at Glenira, Coonabarabran, NSW and his father of the same address, was shown as his next of kin. Robert was 30 years of age and a Tailor. He was single, Presbyterian and 5 ft. 5 and a half inches tall and weighed 129 pounds. He had had no Military Service before and his Regimental Number was 7104, his rank being Private.

One of the advertisements about our soldiers who fought in the First World War reminds us that unlike our current members of the armed forces, they were not professional soldiers. They were regular members of families and communities. As I look at the facts that relate to my grandfather’s enlistment I learn so much that I guess I sort of knew but was buried in my memories.

As a grandchild of this very brave man, I only remember him as a bedridden older person who lived with his eldest daughter on their farm, north of Brisbane. I have photos as grandma who was known to be the member of the family who performed magic with a needle. The family were part of the Salvation Army and yet when my grandfather went to war he was listed as being a member of Presbyterian Church. Strangely, I am now a member of the Presbyterian Church not the Salvation Army.

This happened nearly one hundred years ago. It occurs to me that he probably wondered if he would ever make another suit. So today I remember a tailor who went to war to help keep my future safe even though he had no idea that I was even in God’s plan.