Bobby Black (rugby union)

Bobby Black
Full name Robert Stanley Black
Date of birth (1893-08-24)24 August 1893[1]
Place of birth Arrowtown, New Zealand
Date of death 21 September 1916(1916-09-21) (aged 23)
Place of death Somme, France
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight 73 kg (161 lb)[1]
School Otago Boys' High School
Occupation(s) Bank clerk
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position First five-eighth
New Zealand No. 211
Provincial/State sides
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1911–14, 1915
1914
Otago
Buller
12
2
(0)
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1914 New Zealand 1

Military career

Memorialised at Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial
Service/branch  New Zealand Army
Years of service 1915–16
Rank Private
Service number 9/2048
Unit Otago Mounted Rifles
Canterbury Regiment
Battles/wars Battle of the Somme

Robert Stanley "Bobby" Black (24 August 1893 – 21 September 1916) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A first five-eighth, Black represented Otago and Buller at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, on their 1914 tour of Australia. He played six matches for the All Blacks on that tour, including one international.[2]

Black enlisted in the Otago Mounted Rifles in November 1915 and, after transferring to the Canterbury Regiment, saw active service in the Battle of the Somme.[2] He was killed in action on 21 September 1916,[1] and he is memorialised on the Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial,[3] which commemorates over 1200 New Zealand soldiers who died in the Battles of the Somme in 1916 for whom there is no known grave.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Black, Robert Stanley - WWi 9/2048 - Army". Archives New Zealand. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 Knight, Lindsay. "Bobby Black". New Zealand Rugby Union. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  3. "Casualty details: Black, Robert Stanley". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  4. "Cemetery details: Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 22 September 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, October 13, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.