Robert Edgar Haddock was born on February 2, 1890, in Glasgow, Scotland. His parents were Annie and Alexander. Better known as Bert, he was the youngest of five boys: brothers William, Alexander, John, and Thomas. Later, his sister Eliza was born in 1893.
Family records have been scarce, and research into his original arrival in Australia has not been successful. However, what we do know about Bert is that he enlisted with the 1st Field Co. Eng. Reinforcements on September 8, 1914. His occupation is noted as a machinist. His mother, Annie, was noted as his next of kin on his Attestation papers, as his father was deceased.
Under the command of 2nd Lieutenant Henry Bachtold, 22 sappers, including Robert Haddock, embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, aboard HMAT Berrima on 22 December 1914.
Shortly after arriving in Egypt, the reinforcements were transferred to the 1st Field Company Engineers and were no longer considered reinforcements. On February 26, 1915, Bert was allotted his new service number, 245.
An early casualty while at Gallipoli, Bert Haddock was wounded on the 2nd May 1915, a bullet wound to the left foot, and by the end of the month, he was repatriated back to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Manchester, England. His medical record shows he was recommended for discharge in August 1915 from the Woodcote Park Convalescent Hospital Epsom.
While awaiting his formal discharge from the AIF, Robert Haddock was successful in obtaining munitions work back in Scotland. He worked at William Beardmore Naval Constructions at Dalmuir in West Clydebank, Glasgow, the largest and most advanced shipyard in the United Kingdom, which also manufactured military arms and armaments.
While working back in Scotland, he met and married Jane Stewart Fisher on December 7, 1915. Jane was also from Glasgow, and it’s possible she was working at the same munitions factory when they met, or perhaps she was an old acquaintance.
On December 1, 1916, Robert departed London on the steamship Osterley bound for Sydney. A passenger list shows he returned alone, his occupation still as a machinist, but there is no mention in the record of Jean, his wife. However, further research confirms that Jean did join him in Sydney, and they had two sons, Leslie Alexander Haddock and Stanley John Haddock.
With only ancestry records available, the family story remains rather thin after Bert and Jean settled back in Australia. Sadly, his wife Jean died in 1927 at the age of 36.
By 1930, during the peak of the Depression, Bert’s mother, Annie, had left Scotland and joined Bert and his sons, and is living at the same family address at Meeks Rd, Randwick in Sydney.
At this time Robert is now a commercial traveller, a difficult occupation during these difficult economic times.
Two years later, his mother, Annie, died at the age of 75. It had been a difficult time for the Haddock family, but the records show that father and son’s maintained close contact, often sharing the family home at 59 Meeks Rd, Randwick over the following years.
During WW2, Bert enlisted in the Royal Australian Airforce, his enlistment No. 4002; however, his record is not digitized at this point in time. The basic record shows his son Leslie as his next of kin.
After the war in 1947, Bert was a radio retailer and had travelled to London, perhaps seeking out business opportunities or catching up with relatives. A decade later in 1958 Bert and his two sons are still living together at Randwick, Bert was still a radio retailer, Leslie was a clerk and Stanley a fitter.
Thereafter, the only family details to emerge show his son, Leslie, married Heather Jean Duggan in 1956.
Bert had a brief but memorable war experience, having been wounded at Gallipoli. Then, during his repatriation, having the chance to remain in his birthplace, the young Scotsman, with a love of Australia, returned to Sydney with his wife and family and happily settled in a land that he would call home.
Sapper 245 Robert ‘Bert’ Edgar Haddock died in 1972. He was 82 years old.
Sources and Acknowledgments:
AWM, Ancestry.com Findmypast.com
1st Field Company Engineers - Australian Imperial Forces 