Robert Walton Blair (1895 - 1973)

Biography

Robert Walton Blair was born in Fremantle, Western Australia on 15th December 1895. Walton, as he was known so as to differentiate from his father, was the older son of Robert Abercrombie Blair and Mary Ellen Walton. ^[1] The expanding family later lived in Cottesloe Beach and then Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia's goldfields region.

On 7th March 1915 in Kalgoorlie, nineteen year-old Walton enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), his young nation's all-volunteer expeditionary force for the (First World) War. ^[2][3][4] He embarked for the Middle East on 25th June at Fremantle aboard HMAT Karoola A63 with reinforcements for the 11th Infantry Battalion, then deployed at Gallipoli. ^[5] After disembarking in Egypt he joined his battalion in the trenches at Gallipoli. Following the ANZAC evacuation of the peninsula in December and subsequent re-fitting and training back in Egypt, the battalion deployed to the 'killing fields' of the Western Front: France and Belgium. There, Robert served for the next two and a half years until the Armistice; during which time he was commissioned as a Lieutenant. He returned to Australia 15 May 1919 and was subsequently demobilised from the AIF. ^[3] Robert was unsuccessfully recommended for the Military Cross on 9th June 1918 for action in Mont de Merris, France. ^[6]

Walton married Vera Crease on 24th March 1921 in the Congregational Church, Subiaco, Western Australia. ^[7] The Australian newspaper's 'Goldfields Gossip' mentioned the wedding: ^[8]

"The wedding of Miss Vera Crease and Mr. Walton Blair has been fixed for March 24. The ceremony will take place at the Congregational Church Bagot-road. Subiaco."

Lieutenant Colonel Walton Blair served in the Volunteer Defence Corps in World War II
Service started:
Unit(s): V D C GEN LIST, Western Australia Volunteer Defence Corps
Service ended: 4 February 1945

Walton again served in the Australian Army during the Second World War. This time he held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Volunteer Defence Corps in the Western Australian General List. To have attained the rank it is likely that Walton remained in the Australian Military Force (Militia) during the between-war period. Further research will either bear this out or discount it. He retired on 4th February 1945 as the war was winding down and the threat to Australia minimalised. ^[9][10][11] He was awarded the Australia Service Medal 1939-1945 for this additional service.

An additional nominal roll has Walton once more being commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel in the VDC on 1st June 1945 and retiring on 1st July 1946. However, this appears to be a transcript error as the VDC disbanded in August 1945 with the war over. ^[12][13][14]

His son, Robert Alexander Walton, was killed in action in June 1944 as a pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force.

Aged 77 years, Walton passed away on 17th August 1973 in Perth ^[15] and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery and Crematorium, Karrakatta, Western Australia. ^[16] He was survived by Vera, who passed 21 years later.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth: "Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922" Western Australian Pioneer Index, 1841-1905; Registration Number: 329 Ancestry Record 1778 #6042050 (accessed 26 January 2023) Robert Walton Blair born in about 1896, child of Robert Abercrom Blair & Mary Ellen Walton, in Fremantle.
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Lieutenant Robert Walton Blair; accesed 24 Nov 2023
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Military: "Australia, World War I Service Records, 1914-1920" National Archives of Australia; Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 60864 #91552 (accessed 26 January 2023) Mother: Mary Ellen Blair; Dossier Year Range: 1914-1920; Birth Year: abt 1895; Rank: Lieutenant; Birth Place: Fremantle, Western Australia; Enlistment Place: Kalgoorlie, Western Australia; Name: Robert Walton Blair; Service Number: 2345; Age: 19.
4. ↑ World War 1 Service: Veteran Details for Robert Walton Blair for Service with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Regimental Number: 2345; Rank: Lieutenant; Unit: 11th Battalion, 7th Reinforcement; Enlistment Date: 15 Mar 1915; Returned to Australia 15 May 1919 Link to UNSW AIF Project Record: accessed 12 Feb 2023
5. ↑ Australian War Memorial embarkation roll: 2345 Private Robert Walton Blair; accesed 24 Nov 2023
6. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards (recommendation): Military Cross; accessed 24 Nov 2023
7. ↑ Western Australia Marriage Index #100340/1921; registered at Perth
8. ↑ 1921 'Goldfields Gossip', The Australian (Perth, WA : 1917 - 1923), 25 March, p. 5. , viewed 26 Jan 2023
9. ↑ Department of Veterans' Affairs nominal roll: WX39491 Lieutenant Colonel Robert Walton Blair; accessed 24 Nov 2023
10. ↑ Military: "Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945" National Archives of Australia; Canberra, Australia; Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947; Series: B883 Ancestry Record 61172 #1522693 (accessed 26 January 2023) Year Range: 1939-1948; Service Number: WX39491; Birth Date: 15 Dec 1895; Birth Place: Fremantle, Western Australia; Enlistment Place: Perth, Western Australia; Name: Robert Walton Blair; Next of Kin: Vera Blair; Series Description: B883: Army
11. ↑ World War Two Service (Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs : accessed 12 Feb 2023), Veteran Details for ROBERT WALTON BLAIR for Service with the Australian Army. Service Number: WX39491; Rank: Lieutenant Colonel; Enlistment from to 4 February 1945.
12. ↑ Department of Veterans' Affairs nominal roll: W82282 Lieutenant Colonel Robert Walton Blair; accessed 24 Nov 2023
13. ↑ Military: "Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945" National Archives of Australia; Canberra, Australia; Citizen Military Forces Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947; Series: B884 Ancestry Record 61172 #2017345 (accessed 26 January 2023)
    Year Range: 1939-1948; Service Number: W82282; Birth Date: 15 Dec 1895; Birth Place: Fremantle, Western Australia; Enlistment Place: Karrakatta, Western Australia; Name: Robert Walton Blair; Next of Kin: Vera Blair; Series Description: B884: Army Citizen Military Forces.
14. ↑ World War Two Service (Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs : accessed 12 Feb 2023), Veteran Details for ROBERT WALTON BLAIR for Service with the Australian Army. Service Number: W82282; Rank: Lieutenant Colonel; Enlistment from 1 June 1945 to 1 July 1946.
15. ↑ Death: "Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985" Western Australia Indexes to Vital Records 1906-1980; Registration Number: 2996/73 Ancestry Record 1779 #332314 (accessed 26 January 2023) Robert Walton Blair death about 1973 (age 77), child of Robert A & Mary E, in Perth, Western Australia.
16. ↑ Burial: "Australia and New Zealand, Find a Grave™ Index, 1800s-Current" Find a Grave™. Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi; URL: Find A Grave: Memorial #213525046 Ancestry Record 60528 #178199732 (accessed 26 January 2023)
    Robert Walton Blair burial (died on 17 Aug 1973) in Karrakatta, Nedlands City, Western Australia, Australia.