Bastard, Robert Stanley (Signaller, 10th Bn)

Place Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli
Accession Number 3DRL/3614
Collection type Private Record
Record type Collection
Measurement 1 wallet: 1 cm
Object type Diary
Maker Bastard, Robert Stanley
Date made 1915
Access Open
Related File This file can be copied or viewed via the Memorial’s Reading Room. AWM315 419/099/014
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

Original diary written by 11 Signaller Robert Stanley Bastard, who served with the 10th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the First World War. Robert Stanley Bastard enlisted in Adelaide on 19 August 1914 and embarked on HMAT Ascanius on 20 October 1914. The diary covers the period 28 February 1915 to 18 August 1915, and includes his training on Lemnos Island, landing at Gallipoli and his service there until ordered to hospital in Alexandria. Also included in his diary is a list of important dates and a typescript translation of a Turkish proclamation addressed to the Franco-British Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, urging them to surrender. It may be of interest to note that he has written his name as 'Robert Stanley' in his diary, although it is known he was born 'Robert Stanley Bastard' on 11 March 1892, to parents Robert Charles Bastard and Emily Denny. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Bastard, migrated to South Australia in 1853 from the United Kingdom. Robert Stanley Bastard died in Victoria in 1966 and his original war medals are now held in the collection of the Army Museum of South Australia, Keswick Barracks, Adelaide.