Private Robert Forrest

Private Robert Forrest, 3rd Battalion, Australian Infantry Force. He was killed in action between 22nd and 27th July 1916 during the battle of Pozieres on the Somme aged 25. He had been born in Lanark and was the son of Samuel and Nancy Forrest of Middle Field, Langton, Gavinton and is commemorated on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial, France. He had been working as a butcher in Sydney when he enlisted in August 1914. He had landed with the Anzac Corps at Gallipoli on the 25th April 1915 but was evacuated with dysentery in June.  He returned to Gallipoli and was wounded in August. After withdrawal from the Peninsula the Battalion went to France in March 1916. The 3rd Battalion was primarily raised in New South Wales, Australia. The Battle for Pozieres was costly for the Australians.  Attack followed counterattack but Pozieres was finally secured in early August but at a cost of almost 20,000 casualties of which 5,000 were fatal. The Aussies won 4 Victoria Crosses during the fighting. The photos show Australian troops on the Somme on the way to Pozieres.