BORN HULL 1876. ST LUKES. SON OF MRS MARTHA ROBINSON, OF 6, PERSEVERANCE TERRACE, WEST DOCK AVENUE, HESSLE ROAD AND 12, MELROSE AVENUE, RHODES STREET (WAR LEDGER ADDRESSES). HE WAS A FORMER MANAGER OF A STEAM LAUNDRY.
HE ENLISTED IN HULL. SERVED IN THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS, 1ST COMPANY, 1ST BATTALION, 10TH SECTION, 3RD PLATOON.
REPORTED MISSING THEN KILLED IN ACTION, AT LOOS, ON 29/09/1915. AGED 39. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE LOOS MEMORIAL
HE LEFT A WIFE CARRIE & THREE DAUGHTERS AT 562 , HOLDERNESS ROAD, HULL (1911 CENSUS). HIS DEATH AND PHOTOGRAPH ARE REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON 6TH DECEMBER 1915. HE IS REMEMBERED ON ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, CHURCH MEMORIAL, NEWINGTON, HULL.
Here a passage from the book “The Battle of Loos” by Philip Warner:
“Late in the afternoon of the 26th September it was decided at GHQ to put in the Guards Division to make a last effort to break through over Hill 70. Even this experienced Division found the task of reaching the line almost impossible, and when they reached the battle area could not find either any headquarters or even the approximate location of the front line. Hill 70 was considered a vital area to capture for it dominated the newly captured line in the Loos valley.
Welcome though the arrival in the line of the Guards was, the fact that it did not take place till 27th September caused some comment. As the Guardsmen moved up that afternoon they were indignant to see stragglers. The “stragglers” after two days of bloody fighting were equally irate to see the Guards coming up “late” as they put it. The exchanges were somewhat acid. However by 1700 the Scots and Irish Guards were themselves driven back; they were then joined by the Coldstream after which all pushed forward and dug in. In two days this Brigade lost 42 Officers and 1266 other ranks. By the night of 27/28th September the line along the British front was stabilising, although this meant that the Germans were giving it all the shells that their artillery could manage”. So this area (Hill 70) was just to the east of Loos.
