{"id":9271,"date":"2010-10-12T00:24:08","date_gmt":"2010-10-11T13:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/?p=9271"},"modified":"2010-10-12T00:24:08","modified_gmt":"2010-10-11T13:24:08","slug":"thanks-cobber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/?p=9271","title":{"rendered":"*Thanks cobber"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robin Saxon Corfield OAM<\/strong>
\n1929 – 2010<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Military historian and author of Don\u2019t forget me, cobber \u2013 The Battle of Fromelles<\/em> passed away peacefully at his home in Lara, Victoria on Saturday 9th<\/sup> October 2010. He was 81 years old. Mr Corfield is survived by two sons, Justin & Chris.<\/span><\/p>\n

The work and research of Robin Corfield played an integral part in discovery of the \u2018missing\u2019 from the Battle of Fromelles by Lambis Englezos. Lambis reflects on his relationship with Robin:\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>I take this public opportunity to declare my admiration and affection for Robin Corfield. He has left a wonderful legacy in our common cause of commemoration and remembrance. The quality I most admired in Robin was his sense of social justice. He did not sit on the fence; this is clearly evident in his books. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It was Robin Corfield who established the ”Fromelles” momentum. He saw the need to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle of Fromelles. He founded the “Friends of the 15th Brigade”. He researched and wrote ”Don’t Forget Me Cobber”. I recall our many meetings with great fondness; his depth of knowledge was remarkable and broad. My dear friend, sadly missed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Les Carlyon in the Foreward of Don\u2019t forget me, cobber <\/em>described Robin Corfield as:
\na thorough man. He assembles facts like a barrister building a case, going back and forth over documents, thousands of them \u2013 diaries, letters, books, German records, trench maps, photographs \u2013 sifting and testing, comparing one version with another, looking for inconsistencies and corroborating witnesses, and asking questions, always asking questions \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 Robin Corfield\u2019s achievement is simply that he has told us, better than anyone before him, what happened at Fromelles and why Fromelles matters.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The following insight into the life of Robin Corfield appears inside the back cover of his 2008 book Give me back my dear old cobbers \u2013 The story of the 58th<\/sup> and 59th<\/sup> Australian Infantry Battalions 1913-1942<\/em>, Published by Corfield and Company, 496pp.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robin S Corfield\u2019s introduction to \u201cthings military<\/em>\u201d was by way of his father William who served with the 1st<\/sup> Australian Field Artillery in World War I.\u00a0 He was wounded on 31\u00a0July 1917 at Ypres.\u00a0 One consequence of his war experience was that William had a set of C.E.W. Bean\u2019s Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918<\/em> in the house, Volume XII, the photographic volume being a special attraction to a small boy.\u00a0 In the late 1930s when World War II loomed large, an officer\u2019s tunic with 60th<\/sup> Bn colour patches appeared regularly, signaling that William was off to some event involving the 57th<\/sup>\/60th<\/sup> Battalion.\u00a0 Sadly however William succumbed to his war wounds, and after a long illness died in 1943: he was 46.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robin was at Geelong Grammar School throughout the war years and in the school cadets.\u00a0 Thus like most Australian boys of that time had no doubt that he would join the fight against the Japanese when he turned 18, and that might be just north of Brisbane.\u00a0 That prospect finally vanished in August 1945, but not the interest in history.<\/span><\/p>\n

During travels and periods of living abroad, he explored the battlefields of France and the cemeteries which are their everlasting memorials.\u00a0 The sites and regions in Malaya and Singapore where Australians had been active was a particular interest during three years he spent in Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n

On his return to Melbourne in 1987, a chance visit to the Shrine presented the opportunity to write a history of the 57th<\/sup>\/60th<\/sup> Battalion from 1930 to 1990.\u00a0 Material gathered for that gave rise to a history of the 57th<\/sup> and 60th<\/sup> Battalions 1912-1930.\u00a0 The present volume dealing with the 58th<\/sup> and 59th<\/sup> Battalions 1913-1942, completes the story of the 15th<\/sup> Brigade battalions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1992, Robin Corfield, with Jacqueline Todd and Lambis Englezos, started \u201cThe Friends of the 15th<\/sup> Brigade,\u201d and in 2002 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) \u201cfor service to the community through the preservation of Australia\u2019s military history in association with \u201cThe Friends of 15th<\/sup> Brigade\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following notice appeared in the Melbourne Age <\/em>on Monday 11th<\/sup> October, 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

Military Historian; Gentleman.
\nPassed away peacefully at his home in Lara, October 9, 2010. Aged 81.
\nYou are not only my father, but also my greatest and my dearest friend.
\nThe light in the lamp which has guided me has now gone out, but I will remember your voice, your creative spirit, your sense of fairness, and above all, your help given at all times.
\nMy heart is broken. You are always my Papee. I will never forget you, Cobber.
\n<\/span><\/span>Justin.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Funeral Service will be held at Geelong Grammar School, Victoria which Robin attended and where he was in the School Cadets.\u00a0 The Funeral will then travel to Kangaroo Ground Public Cemetery.<\/span><\/p>\n

The President of the Families and Friends of the First AIF, on behalf of all of its members, offers its gratitude and condolences to Justin, Chris and the Corfield Family.<\/span><\/p>\n

*****<\/span><\/p>\n

The Families and Friends of the First AIF<\/em><\/strong> applauds\u00a0the joint Australian\u2013UK decision,\u00a0to conduct a full DNA testing program on the remains of Australian and British soldiers found in mass graves at Pheasant Wood (Fromelles), and for their continuing commitment to identify as many of the fallen as is possible. We also thank the Australian, UK and French governments for affording dignified individual reburials for these soldiers, buried by\u00a0German soldiers following the Battle of Fromelles\u00a0on 19\/20 July 1916,\u00a0in the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robin Saxon Corfield OAM 1929 – 2010 Military historian and author of Don\u2019t forget me, cobber \u2013 The Battle of Fromelles passed away peacefully at his home in Lara, Victoria on Saturday 9th October 2010. He was 81 years old. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lambis-englezos","category-melbourne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}