Archie Robb

Robb enlisted in the AIF aged 26 in August 1915. He joined the 4th Field Artillery Brigade and embarked from Melbourne on HMAT A54 Wiltshire in November 1915.^[4] He saw action in Gallipoli and on the Western Front at Pozieres.^[5] He arrived in Alexandria as Gallipoli was being evacuated and was shipped with those troops on to Marseilles. He saw action on the Western Front with the 2nd Division Artillery Column working with horse teams pulling artillery and ammunition limbers to the firing lines. He was transferred back to the 4th Field Artillery Brigade.^[5] He was promoted from Fitter to Sergeant^[4] and finished the war suffering severe concussion deafness.^[5]

At war's end Robb rowed in the bow seat of the AIF #1 eight at the 1919 Peace Regatta at Henley-on-Thames, the crew which won the King's Cup which in time, became the trophy for the men's eight event contested annually at the Australian Interstate Regatta.^[6] Robb was one of first arrivals to the AIF rowing section when they commenced their training in early 1919 and he secured and held the bow seat in the AIF#1 crew. Later in the month of July 1919 he again raced in the Australian AIF eight when they competed at the Inter-Allied Regatta on the Seine in Paris.^[5]

After repatriation, Robb returned to Tasmania and was discharged as medically unfit with concussion deafness. He found work as a fitter and turner at the Cascade Brewery in Hobart where he worked for thirty years.^[5] He married Zoe Schott in March 1927 and they had two children. He was in England attending his daughter's birthday when he died suddenly in 1962.^[5]