The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (392) Private Robert Weir, New South Wales Infantry Contingent to the Sudan, Sudan War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Aaron Pegram, the story for this day was on (392) Private Robert Weir, New South Wales Infantry Contingent to the Sudan, Sudan War.

392 Private Robert Weir, New South Wales Infantry Contingent to the Sudan
Died of illness 1 May 1885

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Robert Weir.
Robert Weir was born in 1863 to David and Elizabeth Weir of Wollongong. When he was about ten years old, the family moved south to the coastal town of Kiama. His father was a successful agriculturalist and dairy farmer in the district.

From the mid-nineteenth century, the Australian colonies began to develop local volunteer forces. When the British army garrison left New South Wales in 1870, many settlers began to feel that they should depend upon themselves for defence. Early units were often composed of unpaid, part-time volunteers. As a young man, Weir joined one of these units, known locally as the Kiama volunteer company.

At around the same time that Weir joined the volunteers, the region south of Egypt was in a state of political turmoil. The region was known as “the Soudan” to the British, and a British-backed Egyptian regime was nominally in charge. In the early 1880s, a large-scale rebellion led by a leader known as the Mahdi defeated Egyptian forces on several occasions. The popular British officer, Major General Charles Gordon, arrived to advise the Anglo-Egyptian forces, but was besieged in the town of Khartoum late in 1884. In January 1885, the town was captured by Mahdist forces, and Gordon was killed.

In the aftermath of his death, the New South Wales government offered to send a contingent of infantry and artillery to support the British forces in Sudan. Weir announced his intention to volunteer for the contingent. Concerned for his son’s safety, Weir’s father implored him not to go, but to no avail. Weir sailed on the transport ship Iberia as an infantryman of D Company. The contingent of nearly 800 men set sail from Sydney in early March 1885.

The contingent arrived at the Red Sea port of Suakin at the end of March. Almost as soon as they disembarked, the infantry marched inland to confront Mahdist forces at the village of Tamai. After a brief encounter at the village during which the Mahdist forces withdrew, the British marched back to Suakin.

Weir’s movements during this time are unclear. The records do not indicate whether he participated in the march to Tamai, but if he did, he probably did not leave Suakin after the unit’s return to the port city. Having fallen ill with dysentery, he was cared for on board the hospital ship Ganges in port, but he died of the illness on 1 May 1885. He was 22 years old.

He and New South Wales artilleryman Gunner Edward Lewis, who died of illness some days later, were both buried in a grave at Suakin, marked with a small obelisk.
In Australia, the soldiers of Robert’s unit from Kiama raised money for a local memorial. After a large public ceremony, the memorial was unveiled in 1886.

Private Robert Weir is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, one of nine Australians who died while serving in the Sudan Campaign. Of the 102,000 Australians commemorated on the Australian War Memorial’s Roll of Honour, his name is the earliest recorded entry.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Robert Weir, who gave his life for us, for his country, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section