We’ve run this story from George Chippendale of Canberra before,
but now we have a photo to go with it, and a little more information.
George worked with Bobby Stubbs at the Sydney Botanic
Gardens. They both played cricket in the Gardens team (Bobby pictured in his creams). George thinks that he
and Bobby were the only ones from the Sydney Botanic Gardens to have been involved
in the war. Bobby was a gardener, and George worked in the Herbarium. They
played many cricket matches at Moore Park.
There was a memorial tree for Bobby in the Botanic Gardens. On
one of George’s visits to Sydney, years ago, he noticed it was gone, so he enquired
of the new Director at that time, and later had a new memorial installed.
George was present when the new tree was planted. He thinks it is a Silky Oak.
Pte Robert George Stubbs, NX48909, was the son of Richard
and Helena Rosamond Stubbs, of Hurstville, NSW. He was 22 when he lost his life
on the Centaur.