Accession Number | AWM2017.1402.5 |
---|---|
Collection type | Photograph |
Object type | |
Maker |
Unknown |
Place made | France: Picardie, Somme, Amiens |
Date made | 28 December 1918 |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain This item is in the Public Domain |
Collection relating to 707 (86304) Company Sergeant Major Robert Charles Mitchell MM, 3rd Light Railway Field Company.
Group portrait of No. 2 Section, 3rd Australian Light Rail Company. Identified as seated in front row, second from the left (holding a stick) is 707 (86304) Company Sergeant Major Robert Charles Mitchell MM. Reverse of postcard has a handwritten letter from Mitchell to his mother, dated 28 December 1918.
Collection relating to 707 (86304) Company Sergeant Major Robert Charles Mitchell MM, 3rd Light Railway Field Company. A railway assistant guard from Darlington, NSW, Mitchell enlisted on 22 July 1915 and embarked for overseas service on HMAT Beltana on 9 November 1915. He served with the 30th Battalion before transferring to the 1st Anzac Light Railways in January 1917, which later bcame the 17th Anzac Light Railway Operating Company and then the 3rd Light Railway Company. Mitchell was awarded the Military Medal for "bravery in the field" in late 1917. He returned to Australia and was discharged on 6 August 1919. Mitchell then re-enlisted to the Special Service Unit on 9 September 1919 and served until 21 February 1920.