 1893 - 1959 (65 years)
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| Name |
Randall Lance Rhodes |
| Prefix |
Captain |
| Suffix |
MC & Bar |
| Born |
3 Aug 1893 |
Norwood, South Australia  |
| Gender |
Male |
| WW1 Enlistment |
19 Aug 1914 |
Morphettville, South Australia |
'Lance, as he was known, left Australia on the HMAT Ascanius on Tuesday 20 October 1914. Born in 1893 on August 3, to parents Edward Henry Rhodes and Annie Eliza Kelly in Norwood, South Australia. He was a bank clerk before he enlisted for the army in August 1914, where he joined the 10th battalion Australian Imperial Forces (AIF). He departed Australia in October of that year aboard HMAT Ascanius to go to Egypt for field training. Lance fought in Turkey, Greece and France throughout the first world war with periods of training and convalescence in Egypt and England. He also served during the second world war and after its conclusion, until May 1949.
August 1914: enlisted at Morphettville
Service number 148, Private, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius A11
October 1914: departed Australia for Egypt
December 6 1914-February 23 1915: training in Egypt
March 5 1915: arrived at Lemnos Island, Greece
April 25 1915: Gallipoli landing, Turkey
September 6 1915: Valetta, Malta
November 23 1915: Lemnos Island, Greece
December 29 1915: various locations, Egypt
March 21 1916: promoted to Second Lieutenant
June 12 1916: arrived in Marseille, France
Second Lieutenant, 50th Infantry Battalion
19 August 1916: nominated to receive Military Cross
24 April 1918: wounded, evacuated to England and later Australia (shrapnel wound to shoulder?)'
[from https://captainlancerhodes.wordpress.com/] |
| Awards |
14 Nov 1916 |
Military Cross.
(As a lieutenant in 50 Battalion):
'Near Mouquet Farm on the 12th, 13th and 14th August he displayed great bravery and coolness under heavy fire. Although buried four times by H.E. shells he continued to lead his men until finally, badly wounded, he was taken to the rear.'
'For conspicuous gallantry during operations. Though buried four times by high explosive shells, he continued to lead his men until he was badly wounded.' |
| WW1 Service |
1914-1918 |
'PRIVATE Randall Lance Rhodes did not feel brave when he left Australia heading for Egypt in October 1914, but by the end of World War I he had been awarded the Military Cross and been promoted to captain. His family is chronicling his service with a blog of his letters home 100 years to the day they were written.
Leaving Port Adelaide, he wrote: "I don't know what I looked like last Tuesday, I know I didn't feel very brave, far from it... It is very hard leaving home I can tell you, but everything goes alright here as long as one refrains from thinking too long, and drawing comparisons."
After training in Egypt, the 21-year-old bank clerk from Gilberton landed at Gallipoli with the 10th Battalion on April 25, 1915. He survived the landing but was wounded two weeks later and evacuated to Egypt. His best friend Frank Crowhurst died on the same day, for which Rhodes' daughter Elizabeth Miller, now 88, of Fullarton, said he never forgave himself. "That lived with him forever," Mrs Miller said. "That gave him hell."
Rhodes rejoined his unit at Gallipoli and was promoted to sergeant and then second lieutenant before the battalion went to France in 1916. He was wounded in the Battle of Mouquet Farm on August 15, 1916. Despite being buried at least four times by shellbursts, he continued to lead his men and for his gallantry was awarded the Military Cross. He suffered a broken arm and had a bullet lodged in it, from which Mrs Miller said he never fully recovered. "The wound was horrible to look at," Mrs Miller said. "The scarring was horrible." An x-ray of his arm at the time revealed he still had a Turkish bullet in his elbow.
He returned to France after recuperating in England, where he was promoted to captain. He was again wounded, at Villers Bretonneux on April 24, 1918, this time by shrapnel to his shoulder. He had to be evacuated to England and then Australia. After the war he joined the RSL and was a member of the Renmark sub-branch.'
[From The Advertiser https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/anzac-centenary/private-randall-lance-rhodes-earns-military-cross-for-his-gallantry-in-the-battle-of-mouquet-farm/news-story/a79d93cb65a9aabbe655153382fcf389 ] |
| Died |
15 Jun 1959 |
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| Person ID |
I14271 |
Simpson & Elder |
| Last Modified |
26 Feb 2019 |
| Family |
Hazel Anne Lofty Tamblyn, b. 4 Nov 1898, Woodside, South Australia , d. 19 Mar 1929, Renmark Hospital, Renmark, South Australia (Age 30 years) |
| Married |
16 Jan 1923 |
St Augustine's Church, Renmark, South Australia |
| Children |
|
| Last Modified |
26 Feb 2019 |
| Family ID |
F1005 |
Group Sheet |
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| Photos
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 | Captain Randall Lance Rhodes MC
|
 | Seven 50th Battalion Company Commanders, January 1916.
Seven 50th Battalion Company Commanders holding a meeting at Carinya Post on the front line of the Suez Canal defences, 12 miles out in the Sinai desert from the Canal. Known to be pictured are Captain (Capt) Randall Lance Rhodes MC & Bar; Capt Richard Gladstone Wilton; Capt Patrick Howard (?) Auld MC & Bar; Lieutenant (Lt) John Albert Smith; Major Mervyn James Herbert; Capt H Morris MC; and Lt Esson Thomas Rule. |
 | Captain Randall Lance Rhodes, MC
Studio portrait of 148 Private Randall Lance Rhodes, 10th Battalion who was a 21 year old bank clerk from Gilberton, South Australia when he enlisted on 19 August 1914. He embarked for overseas from Adelaide on 20 October 1914 aboard HMAT Ascanius. While serving at Gallipoli, he was wounded in action and evacuated to Egypt but recovered and rejoined his unit at Gallipoli. On 17 March 1916 he was appointed a Second Lieutenant with the 50th Battalion and while serving in France was wounded in action on 15 August 1916. For his great bravery under heavy fire near Mouquet Farm, France in August 1916, he was awarded a Military Cross (MC). He was evacuated to England and after returning to his unit in France was again wounded in action on 24 April 1918. These wounds were so severe that after being evacuated to England, he was returned to Australia on 24 October 1918. He served again in the Second World War until 30 May 1949. One of 131 photographs displayed on an honour board showing members of the Adelaide Rowing Club who enlisted for active service in the First World War. The original is held by the Adelaide Rowing Club who kindly loaned the board to the Australian War Memorial for copying. |
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From the East Torrens Messenger |
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