This is one of a series of posts to mark the international Rugby players who died during The Great War. If anyone has further information on the men concerned, I’d be most grateful if it could be added to the thread. Gareth Black, Robert Stanley played for New Zealand Internationals: 1: 1914 A+ Robert Black was born on 23 August 1893, in Arrowtown, Invercargill, the son of Harry and Emily Black Played as a First Five-Eighth for Otago Boys’ High School, Pirates, University, Otago, Buller, White Star, South Island Profession: Banking Remarks: Bob Black played 12 times for Otago. He played six matches for the All Blacks, all in 1914. War service: Corporal, Otago Mounted Rifles, then 9/2048 Private, 2nd Battalion, Canterbury Regiment, 2nd NZ Brigade, NZ Division, NZEF. At 08.30 on 20 September 1916 during the attack on Flers, the 2nd Canterbury attacked with the 1st Black Watch (1st Brigade, 1st Division) without a preliminary bombardment, driving the enemy back beyond the Goose Valley position. A German counter-attack was repulsed. He was killed in action on 21 September, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, and is commemorated on the Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial, Somme, France.
ROBERT STANLEY BLACK (Born 23.08.1893, Died 21.09.1916) 'Bobby' Black was originally an Otago representative but represented the South Island from the Buller Union in 1914 (according to the New Zealand Rugby Museum). He played so well in the 8-0 victory over the North Island in 1914 that he was selected in the All Black touring party for the trip to Australia in that same year. The first five eight played for the White Star club in Westport and this club is credited as being the club which Black made the All Blacks from, however he is also listed as being with the Otago province at this time. He made 1 test appearance against Australia amongst his 6 All Black matches. Tragically in 1916 Robert Stanley Black, aged 23, was one of the many New Zealand casualties in the Battle of the Somme. Black's representative record Otago - 12 matches Buller - 1914 South Island - 2 matches NEW ZEALAND - 6 matches
Robert 'Bobby' Black is another young man who proves to be rather difficult in uncovering his past. He was born in the small town of Arrowtown near Queenstown in the South Island of NZ and seems to have moved to Dunedin where we know he attended Otago Boy's High. No doubt Robert played rugby for the school before heading off into the workforce as a Bank Clerk. He then played for the Dunedin Pirates club based at Carisbrook Park and in 1911, made the first of his 12 appearances for Otago - the same year the famous Dunedin Railway Station was built. His speed and quick acceleration made him an asset as a first five eighths. Two top performances for the South Island in 1912 and 1914 (he emerged as a speedy first-five from the Buller province) won him a place for the All Blacks' tour of Australia in 1914. He had been spending time in Westport playing for the White Star Rugby Club, which was founded in 1898. Strong trial form saw him win selection on the 1914 All Black tour of Australia, where he played six games, including the only test being the 22nd test match for the All Blacks and the last test between NZ and Australia before the war broke out which then ended what seemed a very promising rugby career for Robert. The captain for the 1914 tour was Richard Roberts who joined Black in the Great War. Roberts survived however and went on to captain the 1921 Taranaki team that famously kept the touring South African team to a scoreless draw. Robert played in six of the matches on tour including the first test and scored three tries. But by the time the side had returned war had broken out and after his early enlistment, he had the chance to reappear in first class rugby briefly in 1915 for what proved to be the last time. He enlisted in the Otago Mounted Rifles and embarked with 10th Reinforcements Otago Mounted Rifles, D Squadron on 4 March 1916 from Wellington aboard the 'Willochra'. Transport HMNZT 47. Destination was Suez, Egypt. Embarkation that day involved 2 ships and totalled 1832 men. The 'Willochra' brought the first wounded soldiers back to NZ from the Gallipoli campaign on 15 July 1915. Also onboard that trip was Cpt Donald Simson who ended up founding the Returned Services Association (NZRSA). After leaving New Zealand, Robert was transferred to the Canterbury Infantry Regiment. On the 21st of September, 1916, aged only 23, he became one of the many casualties of the Battle of the Somme. Robert was involved in the build-up to capturing the French town of Flers, near Longueval. That day the 1st Canterbury Regiment distinguished itself by taking a portion of the trenches at Flers. They had a stand-up fight with bombs, killed 250 of the enemy and sustained 150 casualties. Winter was fast approaching, it was freezing cold and the rain had set in turning the trenches and surrounding land into thick mud. Robert was about to witness the British 'secret weapon' in action for the very first time... General Sir Douglas Haig, decided to introduce the tank to the war. However they quickly became bogged down during this offensive and were largely ineffective. The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, on 15 September, was the first time that the New Zealanders were sent over the top on the Western Front. It was also the first time New Zealand had deployed an infantry division on operations overseas. The 15–16,000-strong New Zealand Division was made up of three large infantry brigades (12 infantry battalions plus support personnel), and was part of the British XV Corps, which was at the centre of the attack and responsible for the capture of Flers. The attack was successful. The New Zealand Division managed to capture part of the Switch Line west of Flers, while the 41st Division advanced 3,500 yards in the centre at Flers. On the left flank, the Canadian 2nd Division captured the village of Courcelette, and the British finally (after two months trying) captured all of High Wood. Although its contribution was hailed as a success by newspapers at home, the New Zealand Division’s role in the Battle of the Somme was a bittersweet “victory”. They had achieved their objectives, but their three-kilometre advance and the capture of eight kilometres of ground had cost the hefty price of 7,048 casualties. Robert's battalion, suffered casualty rates of about 90%; they went in with 230 people per company and came out with something like 30! The division spent the next 23 days on the Somme, a very long period of time - one of the longest times of any divisions that were there on the Western Front. Longueval, where Robert's name is engraved, is a village approximately 13 kilometres east of Albert and 10 kilometres south of Bapaume. The Memorial itself is situated on a terrace in Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, which lies a short distance west of Longueval, on the south side of the road to Contalmaison. Commemorating those officers and men of the New Zealand Division who fell in the Battles of the Somme, 1916, and whose graves are not known, the Memorial takes the form of a screen wall behind the Great War Stone, with sheltered seats at either end, and consists of eleven panels of Portland stone. On ten of the panels are inscribed, in alphabetical order under their Regiments and ranks, the names of over 1200 soldiers of the New Zealand Division; and on the centre panel is carved the New Zealand fern leaf badge. Interestingly, in 2004, the Labour Government of NZ removed an unknown NZ soldier's body from this very area and brought it back to Wellington where he is now entombed in a national monument. A staggering 84 percent of the 59,981 New Zealand soldiers who were casualties of warfare in World War One occurred on the Western Front. More than 12,483 remain buried in the soil on the battlefields, with 4227 having no known grave, including All Black number 211 - Robert 'Bobby' Black. http://www.nixonpictures.co.nz/All_Blacks_WWI_Robert_Black.html
