Military History

Halliday was required to have parental consent to join the service.
Embarked Fremantle per HMAT ‘Suffolk’ A23 to England 10.10.1916.
Roll Rank Private.
Roll Unit 51st Infantry Bn. AIF.
Halliday disembarked at Plymouth 2.12.1916 with the 51st Bn. He marched in to the 13th Training Bn. at Codford and reverted from A/Cpl to permeant rank. He was admitted sick to hospital 13.1.1917 with parotitis to the 3rd General Hospital at Brockenhurst. He qualified as an instructor in Bomb throwing at the Southern Command School. He was appointed Acting Cpl. 25.6.1917 and was taken on strength with the 51st Bn. 1917. He reverted to rank and proceeded overseas to France with the 13th Training Bn. 16.7.1917. Halliday marched in to the 4th Division Base Details at Havre 17.7.1917 and was taken on strength in the Field 3.8.1917. He was allotted letter B to his Service No. 10.8.1917. The 51st Bn. fought at the Battle of Polygon Wood in September 1917. Halliday was admitted to 39th Stationary Hospital with an acute Appendicitis 2.11.1917 and transferred to the 13th General Hospital at Boulogne 17.11.1917. He was discharged and cleared as fit for active service 1918 and rejoined his unit 8.12.1917. The 51st Bn. assisted repulse a large enemy attackat Ancre, known as the German 'Spring Offensives', in the Picardy sector in April 1918. On April 5th 1917 (AWM 51st Bn). Halliday was KIA with a GSW to the head 6.4.1918. He was buried in a shell hole by his Company. It was not possible to mark the site with a cross. Halliday’s body was not recovered. He is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie. France.
Final Rank Cpl. 51st Bn AIF.
Medical Condition Dec’d, KIA.
Awards and Medals British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Photos  Pte. R.M. Halliday. Photograph source Sunday Times 10.10.1915 p1
           HMAT 'Suffolk' A23 . Photograph from the S.M. Curry Collection. Photograph source Don't Forget the Diggers
              Desolate countryside near Ancre. Photographer  unknown, photograph source AWM H08523
              Villers-Bretonneux Australian Memorial, dedicated in 1938. Photographer unknown, photograph source AWM H1745
Notes Brother David Stewart Halliday died after serving in WW1with 2nd Light Horse. (West Australian Newspaper 13.4.1918)


Information Source
AWM H08523. Desolate countryside near Ancre. Photographer  unknown, photograph sourced from the Pictorial Collection of the Australian War Memorial
AWM  H1745. Villers-Bretonneux Australian Memorial, dedicated in 1938. Photographer unknown, photograph sourced from the Pictorial Collection of the Australian War Memorial
AWM Embarkation Roll - Roderick McFarlane Halliday
AWM Roll of Honour- Roderick McFarlane Halliday
Don't Forget the Diggers. HMAT 'Suffolk'. Photograph sourced from Don't Forget the Diggers website http://www.dontforgetthediggers.com.au/galleryImg_large.asp?galID=31&galImgID=202
Guildford War Memorial
NAA: B2455, Halliday R M
Sunday Times
West Australian Newspaper



‘The Bungalow’, North Rd. West Guildford. WA.

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