Robert William Tandy, a labourer from Gloucester in the west of England, arrived in Adelaide with his parents in 1911. He played for Sturt’s reserve team for three seasons, 1912-1914, before enlisting in November 1914 aged 26. He was a team mate of the young Charles Marques, the future business entrepreneur.
Originally with the 10th Battalion, Tandy served at Gallipoli, surviving the fighting but suffering the usual illnesses. Transferring to the 50th Battalion in France in 1916 he served a Field Punishment No.2 for an AWOL offence on one occasion. He died of pneumonia on 26th January 1917. Like many Australian soldiers whose constitution had been weakened by disease at Gallipoli, Robert Tandy succumbed to the wet and freezing weather of a winter on the western front.