William Tasker

Gunner William Tasker
Nickname(s)	Twit
Born	(1891-10-15)15 October 1891 Condobolin, New South Wales
Died	9 August 1918(1918-08-09) (aged 26) Harbonnieres, France
Buried	Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1916 – 1918
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	13th Battalion 116th Howitzer Battery
Battles/wars	World War I Battle of Gallipoli Western Front Battle of Amiens

Birth name	William George Tasker [1]
Date of birth	15 October 1891
Place of birth	Condobolin, New South Wales [1]
Date of death	9 August 1918
Place of death	Harbonnieres, France [2]
School	Newington College
Rugby union career
Position(s) fly-half[1] Current team deceased Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1912-1915 Newtown RUFC () Current local club deceased National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1913-1914 [1] Australia 6 0

William George "Twit" Tasker (15 October 1891 – 9 August 1918) was an Australian World War I soldier who had been a national representative rugby union player making six Test appearances for the Wallabies.^[3]

Early life

Born in Condobolin, New South Wales, Tasker attended Newington College from (1906–1911).^[4] He captained the Newington First XV in 1911 and was selected in and captained the GPS Schools representative 1st XV in 1911. He stayed in Sydney after completing his schooling becoming a bank clerk whilst pursuing a rugby career.

Rugby career

He debuted for the Newtown Rugby Club in Sydney in 1912 and that same year at age 20 he captained the club's first-grade side.

He was selected in the Australia national rugby union squad which toured North America in 1912 though he did not play a Test. The squad was overwhelmed with hospitality and lacking strong management they reveled in the social life and undergraduate antics of the college fraternity houses in which they were billeted. In what must be the worst record of any Australian touring team, the squad lost all of their Canadian matches amongst five defeats.^[5] Tasker was the first Wallaby ever to be sent from the field. An incident occurred on the 1912 tour of the United States when Tasker's rough play upset an American referee.^[6]

Tasker made his Test debut at Athletic Park (Wellington) on the 1913 tour of New Zealand and played in all three Tests of that tour. The following year he made three further Test appearances when the All Blacks toured Australia in a return series.

War service

Cemetery in Villers-Bretonneux where lies William Tasker & 770 other Australian fallen

Tasker's grave at Villers-Bretonneux

Tasker's memorial plaque at Newington College

Tasker enlisted in the AIF in January 1915, a Gunner in the 12th Field Artillery Brigade, 13th Battalion (Australia). He took part in the Landing at Anzac Cove, landing late on 25 April 1915. From May to August, the 13th battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the ANZAC front lines. Tasker was severely wounded at Quinn's Post at Gallipoli with shell fragment damage to his legs and ankle. He was invalided back to Australia. A rugby colleague also at Gallipoli, H.A Mitchell of the Manly Club wrote home of Tasker's injuries "A bomb loaded up Tasker's leg and ankle up with about 17 pieces of shot. It will be sometime before he can do any of that sidestepping he used to do".^[7] In 1916 he re-enlisted with the 116th Howitzer Battery and he again embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A60 Aeneas on 30 September. He saw further action on the Western Front and was twice wounded before his death from wounds at Harbonnieres on the second day of the Battle of Amiens just three months before war's end. He is buried at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery.^[8]

The sporting journal 'The Referee' reported:

Honours and awards

• British War Medal
• Victory Medal

See also

• List of international rugby union players killed in action during the First World War

References

External links

• Twit Tasker at the AIF Project