William George "Twit" Tasker (15 October 1891 – 9 August 1918) was an Australian

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

soldier who had been a national representative

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player making six Test appearances for the Wallabies.Australian Rugby - The Game and the Players (Jack Pollard Syd, 1994) pp 603: Tasker, William George "Twit" (1892 - 1918)

Early life

The third son of David Henry Tasker (died 1920), and Helene Tasker (died 1912), William George Tasker was born in

Condobolin, New South Wales Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,486. History Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri pe ...

on 15 October 1891. Tasker attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

from (1906–1911). 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; although 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 among five defeats. Tasker was the first-ever Wallaby 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. Tasker made his Test debut at

Athletic Park (Wellington) Athletic Park was a sports ground used mostly for rugby matches in Wellington, New Zealand. It closed in 1999. History The ground was also the inaugural home of New Zealand's principal knockout football tournament, the Chatham Cup (first he ...

on the 1913 tour of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and played in all three Tests of that tour. The following year he made three further Test appearances when the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

toured Australia in a return series.

War service

Tasker enlisted in the AIF in January 1915, a Gunner in the 12th Field Artillery Brigade,

13th Battalion (Australia) The 13th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally raised for the 1st Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, it was formed just six weeks after the start of the war. Along with the 14th, 15th and ...

. He took part in the

Landing at Anzac Cove The landing at Anzac Cove on Sunday, 25 April 1915, also known as the landing at Gaba Tepe and, to the Turks, as the Arıburnu Battle, was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the forces of the British Empire, whi ...

, 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"''. 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.

Death

On 9 August 1918, Tasker was working with his artillery gun sights at Harbonnieres on the second day of the Battle of Amiens when a shell landed near the gun, mortally wounding him in the groin with

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

. He died later that day at the age of 26. He is buried at the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery.The AIF Project.
/ref> The sporting journal ''The Referee'' reported: In the same issue, the sporting journalist, "The Rambler", made these comments:

Honours and awards

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

* Victory Medal

Footnotes

References

First World War Embarkation Roll: Private William George Tasker (1658)
collection of the '' Australian War Memorial''.
First World War Embarkation Roll: Corporal William George Tasker (29167)
collection of the '' Australian War Memorial''.
First World War Nominal Roll: Gunner William George Tasker (1658/29167)
collection of the ''National Archive of Australia''.
Roll of Honour: 41st Casualty List: Wounded: New South Wales, ''The (Brisbane) Telegraph'', (Saturday, 19 June 1915), p. 7.

411th Casualty List: New South Wales: Wounded, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', (Tuesday, 25 June 1918), p. 8.

428th Casualty List: New South Wales: Died of Wounds, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', (Tuesday 10 September 1918), p. 8.

First World War Service Record: Gunner William George Tasker (1658/29167)
collection of the ''National Archive of Australia''.
Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files, 1914-18 War: 1DRL/0428: 29167 Gunner William George Tasker: 13th Field Artillery Brigade
collection of the '' Australian War Memorial''.
Roll of Honour: Gunner William George Tasker (29167), '' Australian War Memorial''.

Roll of Honour Circular: Gunner William George Tasker (29167)
collection of the '' Australian War Memorial''. * Collection (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', Harper Collins Publishers Sydney * Collection (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', Harper Collins Publishers Sydney * Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead - Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ * Zavos, Spiro (2000) ''Golden Wallabies - The Story of Australia's Rugby World Champions'', Penguin Books, Ringwood, Victoria

External links

Twit Tasker at the AIF Project

Gunner William George Tasker (29167), ''Commonwealth War Graves Commission''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tasker, William 1890s births 1918 deaths Australian rugby union players People educated at Newington College Australian soldiers Australian military personnel killed in World War I Australia international rugby union players Rugby union players from New South Wales Rugby union fly-halves People from the Central West (New South Wales)