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

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

soldier who had been a national representative

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

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 on 15 October 1891. Tasker attended

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

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) on the 1913 tour of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

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). 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 The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

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. 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 * 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 Army 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 Military personnel from New South Wales People from Condobolin New South Wales rugby union team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen