Rfn. Robert Sherer Baikie

Tauranga man and soldier Robert Sherer Baikie was killed in action in France on 28 March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive of 1918. This series of German attacks along the Western Front during World War I (1914-1918) began on 21 March 1918 using extra German divisions now available as a result of the Russian surrender. It was a bid to defeat the Allies before troops from the United States could be deployed. Robert Sherer Baikie was born in Scotland on 12 August 1895 to Peter and Janet Baikie (nee Tulloch). Peter and Janet along with their children Margaret, Jason, Robert, George, Peter, Alfred and Thomas, departed London, England for Auckland, New Zealand on 2 December 1908 aboard the Mamari. Robert worked as a blacksmith and for the Tauranga Sawmill Company and as a Scottish Dancing Instructor. His war record states that he had fair hair and blue eyes, standing 5ft 3 and that his parents lived in 9th Avenue, Tauranga. Robert served in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, Reinforcements J Company. He embarked from Wellington on 16 February 1917 on the Navua for Devonport, England. On 27 September 1917 he was wounded in action and admitted to hospital and in December 1917 he was again admitted suffering from measles. Robert was killed in action at Somme in France during the German Spring Offensive on 28 March 1918 (reg. 1918/40543). He was aged just 22. Robert's parents were buried at Tauranga Presbyterian Cemetery. In 2014 Tauranga's 'Field of Remembrance' was created by the Tauranga WW100 Committee. It comprised 107 white crosses in memory of the men from the Tauranga area who died during World War I. Each cross carries a red poppy and the name of an individual who died. Source: Biography by Debbie McCauley (3 August 2014) https://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com/biographies/tauranga-rol....

Sources

1. Archives New Zealand: Military Personnel File.
2. Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (New Zealand).
3. Cenotaph: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/...
4. Kean, Fiona (2014). From Tauranga to the Trenches.
5. McCauley, Debbie (2014). Robert Sherer Baikie (1895-1918) via http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/remembering_war/topics/show/2188
6. New Zealand and World War One Roll of Honour: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sooty/genealogy/nzefrohBa.html / Ref 2.4.2021