Born at St. Leonards, North Sydney, in 1893 Rupert was the 4th of 5 children of Charles and Henrietta. Living in Artarmon, Rupert was educated at Highfield College, Turramurra.
With his father working as the Draftsman in Charge and his elder brother with the NSW Lands Department it was natural for Rupert follow, working as an Assistant Surveyor with the Lands Department after leaving school. Rupert enlisted with the 6th Reinforcements, 12th Light Horse Regiment on the 26th of May 1915, aged 21 years 9 months. The 6th Reinforcements departed from Sydney aboard the ‘HMAT Moldavia’ on the 2nd of October bound for Egypt. On the 2nd of December Rupert was promoted to acting sergeant which was substantiated on the 22nd of December.
Mo’ascar Isolation Camp, Ismailia was a training area near the Suez Canal for the Australian Divisions from 1916 to 1919. Rupert was with the 4th Division Artillery at Ismailia when he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant ‘in the field’ on the 27th of March 1916.
Australian involvement in the defence of Egypt was for a very limited time from January to April 1916, following the formation of the 4th and 5th Divisions in Egypt. It involved no combat activity on the part of the 4th Division. Serapeum at the time was where Australian soldiers constructed a defensive trench system close to the Suez Canal. He was then taken on strength with the 10th Field Artillery Brigade and posted to the 38th Battery on the 7th of April at Surapeum. On the 26th of May he was again transferred to the 10th Brigade Headquarters also at Surapeum.
On the 5th of June the brigade proceeded to join BEF from Alexandria, disembarking at Marseilles on the 12th. Moving to the front the brigade was assigned to the area around Armentières. Two weeks after arriving in France Rupert was transferred to Brigade HQ and again transferred to the 38th Battery ‘in the field’ on the 11th of July. Rupert was promoted to Lieutenant on the 1st of October 1916 before being transferred to the 39th Battery on the 25th of January 1917. In April 1917, the brigade took part in heavy fighting around Bullecourt where, on 11 April, they suffered heavy casualties, Rupert was ‘Killed in Action’, France, on the 29th of April 1917.
