Private Robert Shetliffe COATS
19 Feb 1920 – 3 Aug 1941
Robert Shetliffe COATS was born on 19th February 1920 at Waikerie to Frederick William John and Lucy Gertrude Coats, of Waikerie. Robert was the loving brother of Adele, Rex, Pauline, Mariel and Judith. Bob schooled at Waikerie, and later assisted his father who was a local orchardist. He was a keen horseman and active member of the Waikerie Riding Club, at which meetings he always figured prominently, carrying off numerous events.
Bob Coats enlisted in April 1940, completed training and was taken on strength for the 2/43rd battalion. On 22-8-40 Coats and other “Waikerie Men” came home on pre embarkation leave. The 2/43rd Infantry Battalion left South Australia at the end of December and moved to Melbourne, where it joined the convoy taking the brigade to the Middle East. The battalion arrived at Egypt late January 1941. The 2/43rd went into camp at Khassa, north of Gaza.
In March the 9th Division was brought to Libya, to garrison the area east of Tobruk. The division did not have enough vehicles to bring all its units forward towards Benghazi. Consequently, the 24th Brigade (comprising the 2/43rd, 2/28th, and 2/32nd Battalions) remained in Tobruk. The situation quickly changed in April. The German Afrika Korps, counter-attacked, pushed the British back to Tobruk.
The division and the 18th Brigade defended the “fortress” for the next six months. The 2/43rd participated in the usual pattern of defensive duties, manning parts of the Red Line, working on the Blue Line, and aggressively patrolling no man’s land. The Red Line was a series of concrete pillboxes forming a semi-circle around Tobruk. It was the town’s outer line of defence, while the Blue Line was the second line.
Bob Coats was killed in action at Tobruk on 3-8-1941. Just one month later the majority of the Australian force (including the 2/43rd in the early hours of 17 October 1941) evacuated Tobruk by sea.
Robert COATS is interred in the Tobruk War Cemetery and is commemorated on the Australian War Memorial on the Roll of Honour.
COATS Crescent at WAIKERIE is named for him. Bob is also commemorated with a tree and plaque here in the WAIKERIE War Memorial Gardens.
