Profile

BLAIR, Robert Stewart
(Service number 29141)

Aliases	Enlisted as Robert Blair.. Known as Bob
First Rank	Private	Last Rank	Private

Birth

Date	28/02/1890	Place of Birth	Raincliff

Enlistment Information

Date	29 June 1916	Age	26 years 3 months
Address at Enlistment	Waratah, Albury
Occupation	Farm hand
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Miss Mary BLAIR (sister), care of Mount Magdala Home, Christchurch
Religion	Presbyterian
Medical Information	Height 5 feet 7 inches. Weight 138 lbs. Chest measurement 33½-36 inches. Complexion dark. Eyes grey. Hair black. Sight & hearing both good. Colour vision correct. Limbs well formed. Full & perfect movement of all joints. Chest well formed. Heart & lungs normal. No illnesses. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Vaccinated. Good bodily & mental health. No slight defects. No fits.

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in	Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	18th Reinforcements, J Company
Date	11 October 1916
Transport	Tofua
Embarked From		Destination	Plymouth, Devon, England

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With	Otago Regiment

Military Awards

Campaigns	Western European
Service Medals	British War Medal; Victory Medal
Military Awards

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

Discharge

Date	13 April 1919	Reason	On the termination of his period of Engagement.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date	21 October 1954	Age	65 years
Place of Death	Timaru
Cause
Notices	Timaru Herald, 22 October 1954
Memorial or Cemetery	Timaru Cemetery
Memorial Reference	Services Section, Row 113, Plot 15
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Robert Stewart Blair, known as Bob, was the second son of George and Margaret (also known as Mary, née Stewart) Blair, and a brother of Robert Stewart Blair and Joseph Blair. The father of the family died when the children were young, and thereafter they were cared for by various people. His mother, who was reported in ill health when his brother William died while working in a paddock in April 1911, had died by 1917. Robert Blair enlisted on 16 May 1916 at the Timaru Defence Office. At the time he was a farm hand at Waratah, Albury. Later his address was given as care of J. Chapman Esq, Totara Valley, Pleasant Point. After his sister Mary died (in October 1916 at Mount Magdala), his next-of-kin became Mrs Emma M. Baird (wife?), but with a note that she wouldn't be ... ? (1925). He and his brother George Turnell McNeil Blair embarked together on 11 October 1916 per the Tofua. The father of the family died when the children were young, and thereafter they were cared for by various people. His mother, who was reported in ill health when his brother William died while working in a paddock in April 1911, had died by 1917.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [19 December 2016]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5520 0015449) [08 January 2017]; Timaru Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [19 December 2016]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [11 December 2016]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [27 December 2016]; Probate record (Archives NZ/FamilySearch) [27 December 2016]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [27 December 2016]; Timaru Herald, 21 April 1911, 17 & 30 May 1916, 27 June 1916, 19 August 1916 (Papers Past) [27 December 2016]; Timaru Herald, 22 October 1954 (Timaru District Library) [30 December 2016]

External Links

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