SLOAN, Robert
(Service number 7/121)
Back: Rainey, G; Frost, R; Julian, W; Cochrane, John; Tennant, John; Cochrane, James; Nichol N; Cameron, C; Robins; Rickman, E A; ?
3rd R: McKenzie, J (alexander John); Duggan, M; Tobin ,J; Tavendale, W; Campbell, J; Gynes; Hodgson, J; McKenzie, R S (Percy?); Samuels, H [actually Henry Samuel Miniss]; Copland; Fitzharris, P; Gill, J
2nd R: Fraser; Whitta, J H; Carr, J; Manchester, A R; Wain, P J; Finlay, John; Bailey, G C; Sloan, P; Bell, N; Menzies, W; Spencer, E; Ryan, E
Front: McGrath, W; Keane, T; Wall, T; Hunt; ?; Hogan, H (Courtesy of Waimate Museum & Archives, P2183 )
| First Rank | Sergeant Major | Last Rank | Warrant Officer Class 1 Staff Sergeant Major |
|---|
Birth
| Date | Unknown | Place of Birth |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Rolleston Street, Timaru | ||
| Occupation | |||
| Previous Military Experience | South African War 1899-1902 | ||
| Marital Status | Married | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Ellenor Sloan(wife), 10 Clifton Gardens, Stanford Hill, London England | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | Main Body | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Canterbury Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | 16 October 1914 | ||
| Transport | HMNZT 4, 11 Tahiti /Athenic | ||
| Embarked From | Lyttleton, Canterbury | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Canterbury Mounted Rifles | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 21 August 1915 | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Gallipoli, Turkey | ||
| Cause | Killed in action | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Hill 60 (NZ) Memorial, Hill 60 Cemetery, Turkey | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | On Memorial wall, Timaru | ||
Biographical Notes
Robert Sloan was the son of Robert and Mary Sloan who had married in the district of Dungannon, Northern Ireland, on 31st December 1870. Robert (junior) was born on 20 October 1882, one of ten children in his family.
As a Sergeant Major Sloan served in the 16th (Queen's) Lancers', during the Boer War. Later Sloan moved to Timaru, New Zealand. There he served as the Staff Sergeant-Major of the 8th (South Canterbury) Mounted Regiment (a volunteer unit) for between three and four years, and (says the Christchurch "Press") played no small part in bringing it up to the high degree of efficiency which enabled the regiment to win the Stead Shield at the annual camp.
On the outbreak of war, Staff Sergeant Major Robert Sloan volunteered and embarked for Egypt with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles contingent with the “Main Body” (the first contingent of New Zealand soldiers) on 16 October 1914.
Along with the other members of the NZEF Sloan served in the eight month campaign in Gallipoli with other Commonwealth and French forces.The Allies landed on the peninsula on 25-26 April 1915; the 29th Division at Cape Helles in the south and the Australian and New Zealand Corps north of Gaba Tepe on the west coast, an area soon known as Anzac.
On 6 August, further landings were made at Suvla, just north of Anzac, and the climax of the campaign came in early August when simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts. At the beginning of August 1915, Hill 60, which commanded the shore ward communications between the forces at Anzac and Suvla, was in Turkish hands.
Staff Sergeant Major Robert Sloan was killed in action at Gallipoli on 21 August 1915, aged 32. Staff Sergeant Major Robert Sloan has no known grave and is commemorated on Hill 60 New Zealand Memorial in Turkey, the Dungannon War Memorial, and on the War Memorial Wall in Timaru.
After his death, Sloan’s wife, Eleanor and the couple’s two children, returned to England.
A biography of Robert Sloan was published on the Dungannon War Dead Database in January 2022 at https://www.dungannonwardead.com/person.asp?casualtyid=732 - which this biography is largely based on.
Sources
Marlborough Express, 18 September 1915 (p8); SCRoll web submission by C Hunter, 31 December 2021; "7/121 Staff Sergeant Major Robert Sloan", Dungannon War Dead Database at https://www.dungannonwardead.com/persondepth.asp?cas_id=732 [accessed 12 January 2022]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Liz Shea (SC branch NZSG)
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.