Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918
Maslin R Pte Robert 21 17 Stockman Single C of E
Address: Moonee Ponds, Holmes Rd, 171
Next of Kin: Maslin, John Richard, 171 Holmes Rd, Moonee Ponds
Enlisted: 29 Feb 1916
Embarked: Discharged – enlisting without parents' consent
MASLIN, RICHARD, private. 21 9-12 years of age, 5 ft. 5¼ in., medium complexion, black hair, grey eyes. Born
Victoria Police Gazette, 22 June 1916 p384 |
DHQ, 3rd M D....Mrs MASLIN, of 171 Holman (sic) Road, Moonee Ponds, has made a request that her son, Pte MASLIN, Robert Beasley, alias McKENZIE, Robert, now in Detention at Broadmeadows, be discharged from the AIF on the grounds that he is underage. I hold his birth certificate which shows him to be 17 years of age and 2 months, being born on the 15th July, 1899, at 10 Tunbridge Street, Flemington. Pte MASLIN, RB, enlisted under the name of MCKenzie, Robert, as his parents would not give their consent. B2455, National Archives of Australia. |
On 17 August 1916 Robert re-enlisted as Robert McKenzie, claiming to have been born at Longreach in Queensland, and both parents were dead. He may have deserted from Camp in Broadmeadows earlier in the year in the knowledge that his parents were looking for him. He seems to have been found quite soon after the notice in the Police Gazette, and was discharged.
Moonee Ponds West State School
Essendon Gazette Roll of Honour With the Colours