Part 164

=ROBINSON, ALFRED ELLIOT SOMERS=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Royal Scots Fusiliers, 3rd _s._ of William George Robinson, of Kelvinside, Glasgow, late Sergt.-Major R.E., by his wife, Clara; _b._ Bermuda, 5 Sept. 1878; educ. Garnethill School, Glasgow; enlisted 10 Sept. 1894; served in the Tirah Campaign, 1897–98 (medal with three clasps); was given a commission in the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers, 9 April, 1915; went to France, 24 May, 1915, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 16 June, 1915. Gen. Gough, in a letter to his wife, said he could not express too deeply his opinion of this officer’s gallantry, and enclosed an extract of his report as follows: “At Givenchy, 16 June, showed very gallant conduct in leading his platoon to the attack of a strongly entrenched enemy. He was well ahead of his men, and had reached the enemy’s wire, when he was killed.” He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 30 Nov. 1915. He was a very good shot, was in the regimental team for several years, and in the army sixty in 1909, when stationed in Dublin. He _m._ at Leyton Parish Church, 5 Aug. 1905, Elise Esther (37, Sister’s Avenue, North Side, Clapham Common, S.W.), dau. of Jean La Bastie, of Pau (who served in the Franco-German War, 1870), and had two children: Adele Velma, _b._ 27 Sept. 1907; and Violette Marie, _b._ 5 Dec. 1909. His yr. brother, Wilfred Gower Robinson, was killed in action at Ypres, 25 April, 1915.

=ROBINSON, FRANK=, Sergt., No. 1362, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battn. The Royal Sussex Regt. (T.F.), 4th _s._ of James Robinson, of George Hill, Robertsbridge, Chauffeur, by his wife, Alice, dau. of Charles Laurence; _b._ George Hill, Robertsbridge, co. Sussex, 5 July, 1894; educ. Salehurst School, there; was Sawyer at the Robertsbridge Timber Mills; joined 5th Sussex Territorials, 13 May, 1911, and rose to the rank of Sergt.; volunteered for Imperial Service on the outbreak of war; left for France, 18 Feb. 1915, and died at No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station 9 May, 1915, of wounds received the previous day at Festubert. Buried, New Cemetery, Chocques; _unm._ He had been recommended for a commission, and would have received one in a few days.

=ROBINSON, FRANK=, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 3228), 191640, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ROBINSON, FRANK STANLEY=, L.-Corpl., No. 9257, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of the late (--) Robinson, by his wife, Catherine (now wife of (--) Sainty, of 1, Baptist Lane, Broad Street, King’s Lynn); _b._ Tilney All Saints, co. Norfolk, 29 Dec. 1891; educ. Tilney All Saints Public School; enlisted 18 Sept. 1911; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, and was killed in action at Festubert, 24 Dec. 1914; _unm._ His commanding officer, Lord Northland (since killed), writing to his mother, said: “You have indeed lost a gallant son and the regt. a promising non-commissioned officer.”

=ROBINSON, FREDERICK=, Private, No. 11024, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, only _s._ of William Robinson, of Egmanton, near Tuxford, co. Nottingham, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of Henry (and Ann) Taylor; _b._ Egmanton aforesaid, 28 March, 1896; educ. there; was engaged on farm work; enlisted in the Coldstreams after the outbreak of war, 15 Aug. 1914; went to France 23 Nov. following, and died of wounds 25 Jan. 1915; _unm._ Buried near the Church at Cuinchy.

=ROBINSON, JOSEPH COOPER=, Private, No. 21021, 9th (Service) Battn. Lancashire Fusiliers, yst. _s._ of John Robinson, of Sunderland, Driller in Shipyard (_d._ 1895), by his wife Margaret (13, Brougham Street, Southwick-on-Wear), dau. of Michael Hedley, of Sunderland; _b._ Monkwearmouth, co. Durham, 28 Nov. 1889; educ. Board School, Southwick; was employed in the Sunderland Bottle Works; enlisted, 24 Aug 1914; trained at Grantham, and was killed in action at Chocolate Hill, Gallipoli, 21 Aug. 1915; _unm._ The same day his great friend and school fellow G. Hepinstall, with whom he had been brought up, enlisted and gone to the Front, was killed some distance away.

=ROBINSON, JOSEPH ROBERT=, Private, No. 10947, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of Robert Robinson, of East Barkwith, co. Lincoln (now on active service with the 3rd Lincolnshire Regt.), by his wife, Jane, dau. of Joseph Tuxford; _b._ Welton, co. Lincoln, 20 April, 1889; educ. East Barkwith; was a Guard on Great Central Railway at Lincoln; enlisted in the Coldstreams after the outbreak of war, 11 Aug. 1914; went to France 24 Nov. following, and was killed in action at La Bassée 14 June, 1915; _unm._ Buried there. His three brothers are all now (1916) on active service.

=ROBINSON, LAUNCELOT ALEC (LANNIE)=, Assistant Paymaster, R.N.R., yst. _s._ of Capt. John Charles Robinson, of Armadale, Parkstone, late Union Castle Steamship Co., by his wife, Mary Ann, dau. of Alexander Bell; _b._ Acton, 28 July, 1885; educ. Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, High Barnet, and Banister Court, Southampton; was a purser in the Union Castle Steamship Co.; appointed Acting Assistant Paymaster, R.N.R., 25 Aug. 1914; joined H.M S. Bulwark 24 Sept. following, and was killed on active service when that ship was blown up off Sheerness, 26 Nov. 1914; _unm._

=ROBINSON, LAWRENCE LEONARD=, A.B., J. 1445, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=ROBINSON, LESLIE JOHN=, Capt., 2nd Battn. Northamptonshire Regt., only _s._ of the Rev. William Robinson, Vicar of East Haddon, co. Northants, by his wife, Hannah, dau. of Jonathan Hall, of Hud Hey, Haslingden, Lancs.; _b._ Holme Vicarage, Westmoreland, 7 Oct. 1883; educ. Kelly College, Tavistock; and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut., Northamptonshire Regt., 22 April, 1903, and promoted Lieut. 28 Jan. 1905, and Capt. 1 Dec. 1910; as Assistant Adjutant and Musketry Instructor at Colchester from 1908 to 1911; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from Nov. 1914 to 12 March, 1915, on which latter date he was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle. While at Kelly College he was in the Cadet Corps; won the shooting cup three times, and shot at the Devon County Volunteer meeting in 1901, when his college won the Public Schools’ Challenge Shield. At Sandhurst he was in the athletic team against Woolwich, and when with his regt. in Malta he won the Officers’ Cup for shooting. He _m._ at St. Giles’, Oxford, 21 Aug. 1913, Louisa Sophia, dau. of the late Walter Merivale, M.I.C.E., and had two children: Anthony Leslie and Diana Merivale, twins, _b._ 6 March, 1915.

=ROBINSON, REGINALD WILLIAM=, Capt., 5th (Service) Battn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 3rd _s._ of Sir Richard Atkinson Robinson, of 59, Hazlewell Road, Putney, S.W., J.P., D.L., Chairman of the London County Council (1908), by his wife, Jane Wilson, dau. of Thomas Thistle; _b._ South Kensington, 15 June, 1880; educ. St. Paul’s School, and the Royal School of Mines, South Kensington; was for a time a member of the London Scottish Volunteers; joined the C.I.V. in 1901, and served with them in the South African War (medal); and was later a Lieut. in the Rhodesian Volunteers; obtained a commission as temporary Lieut. in the Inniskilling Fusiliers after the outbreak of war, 4 Oct. 1914, and was appointed Capt., 5th Service Battn., 3 Dec. following; left for Gallipoli, July, 1915; took part in the landing at Suvla Bay, and was killed in action there 15 Aug. 1915; _unm._

=ROBINSON, THOMAS WILLIAM=, A.B. (R.F.R., I.C. 329), 194399, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=ROBINSON, WILLIAM HENRY=, Corpl., R.M.A. (R.F.R., A. 0580), H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ROBSHAW, THOMAS ARTHUR=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 4429), S.S. 1494, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=ROBSON, JAMES HERBERT=, Private, No. 4620, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of Robert Robson, of 68, High Street, Langley Moor, co. Durham; _b._ co. Monmouth; enlisted 11 March, 1902; obtained his discharge, 22 Sept. 1905; re-enlisted after the outbreak of war, 13 Aug. 1914; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders; killed in action, 25 Oct. 1914.

=ROBSON, JASPER LEEMING=, Private, No. 6567, 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of the late Matthew Jasper Robson, of West White Hill, Kirkwhelpington, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Farmer; _b._ Hunmanby, co. York, 22 April, 1887; educ. County Council School, Felling-on-Tyne, and privately; enlisted 18 Jan. 1906; served in Egypt 29 Sept. 1906 to 12 Feb. 1909, and with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc., from 12 Aug. 1914, and died a prisoner of war in No. 1 Reserve Hospital, Hanover, Germany, 14 Oct. 1914; _unm._ Buried there.

=ROBSON, OLIVER AUGUSTUS=, Private, No. 12396, 1st Battn. Coldstream Guards, eldest and only surviving _s._ of Oliver Robson, of 9, Colchester Road, Leyton, co. Essex, Postal Servant, by his wife, Louise Harriett, dau. of Augustus Bourlet; _b._ Bristol, 20 Oct. 1894; educ. there and in London; was employed in the Post Office Telephone Department; volunteered on the outbreak of war, and enlisted in the Coldstreams, 15 Sept. 1914; went to France to join his Battn., 9 Jan. 1915; was reported missing after the fighting at Cuinchy on the 25th of that month, and is now assumed to have been killed in action on that date; _unm._

=ROBSON, RICHARD ERNEST=, Coy. Sergt.-Major, No. 2448, 2nd Battn. Coldstream Guards, _s._ of Richard Robson, of Howden, Northumberland, Coal Trimmer; _b._ Howden, 2 March, 1880; joined the 1st Durham R.E. (Vol.), 2 Feb. 1896; and served in that corps until 31 Jan. 1899; being returned as an efficient in the years, 1896–97–98; enlisted in the Coldstream Guards, 10 Feb. 1899; appointed L.-Corpl. 27 July, 1899, Corpl. 30 Aug. 1901, L.-Sergt. 2 July, 1902, Sergt. 5 Aug. 1905, Coy. Sergt. 7 Nov. 1907, Coy. Q.M. Sergt. 21 Oct. 1913, and Coy. Sergt.-Major 1 April, 1915; served in the South African War, 18 March, 1900, to 6 Oct. 1902 (Queen’s medal with five clasps, “Johannesburg,” “Diamond Hill,” “Belfast,” “Cape Colony,” “Orange Free State,” and King’s medal with two clasps, “S.A. 1901,” “S.A. 1902”); and with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, 12 Aug. 1914 to 27 Sept. 1915, and was mortally wounded in the Battle of Loos, and died the same day. Buried, at La Rutoire, north of the Loos Road, one mile S.E. of Vermelles. He _m._ at Christ Church, Victoria Street, Westminster, 25 Feb. 1905, Lilian, dau. of Joseph Filderby, of Ladywood, Birmingham, Scales Fitter, and had a son and a dau.: Richard, _b._ 3 Nov. 1907; and Margaret Lilian, _b._ 30 Aug. 1906.

=ROBSON, THOMAS=, Private, No. 8170, 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, only _s._ of Thomas Robson, of Newcastle, by his wife, Mary Anne Elizabeth; _b._ Shieldfield, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 9 June, 1891; educ. Gateshead; enlisted in the Coldstreams at Newcastle, 23 Nov. 1908, went to the Front with the Expeditionary Force, and was killed in action at Landrecies a few days later, 25 Aug. 1914. “Many splendid things were done that night at Landrecies,” wrote Corpl. G. Gilliam (“Penny Magazine,” 28 Nov. 1914), “but there was nothing finer than the work of our Maxim gunner Robson, who was on our left. Our machine guns were by now at our end of the town, and they had a solid mass of Germans to go at. Robson was sitting on his stool, and as soon as the officer ordered ‘Fire’ he pressed the two buttons and his Maxim hailed death. It literally was a hail of fire that met the packed Germans, and absolutely swept down the head of the column, so that the street was choked in an instant with the German dead. In spite of this absolute hail, a few Germans managed to break through their walls of dead and wounded. One of them disguised as a French Officer, and wanting us to think he had been a prisoner, but had just broken away from the Germans, rushed up to Robson and patted him on the shoulder and said; ‘brave fellow’; and with that he whipped round his sword and killed our Maxim gunner on the spot; but he himself was instantly shot down by our enraged fellows. I suppose he did not mind taking his chance.” He _m._ at St. Mark’s, Kennington, Annie Francis (32, Werhum Street, Kennington, S.E.), dau. of John Gosling, and had a dau., Annie, _b._ 29 Nov. 1913.

=ROBSON, THOMAS WILLIAM=, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./17824, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=ROCKLEY, ERNEST=, Ordinary Seaman, J. 16809, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=RODDAM, ROBERT COLLINGWOOD=, Capt., 3rd, attd. 1st Battn. Northumberland Fusiliers, only _s._ of Lieut.-Col. Roddam John Roddam, of Roddam, co. Northumberland, J.P., B.A., late commanding 3rd Northumberland Fusiliers, now commanding 15th Northumberland Fusiliers, by his wife, Helen Fredericka, yst. dau. of Capt. Alexander Taubman Goldie, of The Hermitage, Isle of Man, late R.N.; _b._ Roddam Hall, near Alnwick, 10 Jan. 1890; educ. Wellington College; joined the 7th Battn. Northumberland Fusiliers (T.F.) as 2nd Lieut. in Aug. 1908; transferred to the 3rd Special Reserve, commanded by his father, in 1910, and was promoted Lieut. 2 Dec. 1912. He was in Ceylon when war broke out; returned to England at once and joined his Battn. in Sept., went to France in Dec. as a Lieut., and was then attd. to the 1st Battn., and promoted Capt.; and was killed in action at Hooge, 16 June, 1915, gallantly leading his Company in an attack on the German trenches; _unm._ Buried there. His Col. (now Brig.-Gen. Ainslie) wrote: “He will be a great loss as an officer, in fact I know of no one who shaped better or showed more soldierlike qualities. Over and over again he has been in very nasty situations and every time he has come out smiling, and kept his end up splendidly. It will be a consolation to you to know what a tip-top officer he was.” Capt. Roddam was awarded the Military Cross [London Gazette, 23 June, 1915] for gallantry with the handful of men in the advanced trench left capable, after having had their trench mined at St. Eloi, 14 April; and was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 31 May [London Gazette, 22 June, 1915], for gallant and distinguished service in the field.

=RODDIS, CHARLES HENRY=, Private, No. 3071, 1/5th Battn. Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of Joseph Charles Roddis, of 13, Fieldhouse Lane, Leeds Road North, Huddersfield, Stone Machinist, by his wife, Ellen, dau. of Henry Wheeldon, of Sheffield; _b._ Sheffield, 6 Feb. 1897; educ. Parson Cross School, Wadsley Bridge, near Sheffield; was apprenticed as a tool fitter at David Brown & Sons, Motor Engineers, Lockwood, Huddersfield, but, on the outbreak of war, volunteered for foreign service and joined the 5th West Riding Regt.; went to France in April, 1915; volunteered as a bombthrower, and was killed in action at Fleurbaix, 25 June following; _unm._ Buried at La Croix, near Fleurbaix. Major G. P. Norton wrote: “Private C. Roddis was mortally wounded by a shell about 4.45 yesterday afternoon, and he died in the first-aid post the same evening. The enemy was shelling our trenches, and your son was in a dug-out, about the last shell they fired hit on the top of the dug-out and burst inside.... He was such a nice lad and a splendid soldier. His heart was in his work; he took up bombing and turned out one of the best bombers in the Brigade. He was doing a turn in the trenches to make room for others to be trained as bombers, and it is very hard that he should have been killed before he could use the bombs on the Germans. His is a great loss to me personally, and all the officers and his comrades.”

=RODGER, WALTER WASHINGTON BUCHANAN=, Lieut., 5th Battn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (T.F.), yst. _s._ of the late Walter Washington Buchanan Rodger, Ex-Provost, of Greenock, C.E., J.P., by his wife, Emma Amelia (Bagatelle, Greenock), dau. of William Clark Rodger, of New York; _b._ Greenock, 13 May, 1895; educ. Trinity College, Glenalmond; gazetted 2nd Lieut., Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 20 Oct. 1914, and promoted Lieut. 1 Nov. 1914; went to the Dardanelles, 1 June, 1915, and was killed in action near Krithia, 8 July following; _unm._ Buried there. He was a member of Glenalmond O.T.C. for four years, and one of the Bisley team two years.

=RODGERS, GEORGE=, Leading Seaman, R.N.R., 1780C, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ROE, HENRY GRAEME=, Private, No. 2020, 2nd Battn. 1st Infantry Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of the late Colin Graeme Roe, of Allestree House, Chesterfield Road, Sheffield, Artist, by his wife, Caroline Louisa, dau. of James Andrews, and grandson of Robert Henry Roe, Animal Painter; _b._ Brincliffe Edge, Sheffield, 24 July, 1889; educ. Abbeydale School there; displaying a great taste for engineering he entered the works of the Hardy Patent Pick Co., where he remained over four years. In Nov. 1908, he went to an uncle in New Zealand, continuing his engineering work there, after three years he went to Sydney, and finally became 2nd Engineer on the S.S. Koonokarra (Lever Bros.), which was employed collecting the products of the Solomon Islands. Arriving at Sydney on a return voyage at the end of 1914, he enlisted in the Commonwealth Expeditionary Forces in Jan. 1915, and after a short period of training in Liverpool Camp, N.S.W., left for Egypt with the fifth reinforcements in April. He was killed in action at Lone Pine, Gallipoli, between 7 and 14 Aug. 1915; _unm._

=ROGERS, ALBERT SAMUEL=, Stoker, 1st Class, 301451 (Ports.), H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ROGERS, ALFRED SIDNEY=, Seaman, R.N.R., 4758A, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ROGERS, ARTHUR=, A.B. (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9129), 203989, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=ROGERS, ERNEST JOHN=, Boy, 1st Class, J. 27386, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=ROGERS, HAROLD HILDRED=, Driver, 1st Sussex Battery, R.F.A., only _s._ of the late William Rogers, of Felixstowe (who served five years in the Navy and was invalided out), by his wife, Rosa Catherine (now wife of George Dancy, of 2, Ivanhoe Terrace, Ham Road, Broadwater, Worthing), dau. of George Wadey, of Cold Waltham, Pulborough, Sussex; _b._ Felixstowe, co. Suffolk, 24 Oct. 1894; educ. Washington, Pulborough, Sussex; was a Market Garden Labourer; had joined the Worthing Territorials about April, 1913, and on the outbreak of war, volunteered for foreign service; went to India, Oct. 1914. and was drafted from there in Nov. 1915, to the Persian Gulf; and was drowned in the River Tigris, 25 Dec. 1915: _unm._

=ROGERS, HENRY MILWARD=, Capt., 5th Battn. Manchester Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of the late William Rogers, of The Grange, Coppull, Lancashire, Mining Engineer, some time Mayor of Wigan, by his wife, Helen (The White House, Parbold), dau. of Richard (and Catherine) Procter; _b._ Southport, 27 Sept. 1879; educ. Bilton Grange and Radley College; was a Mining Engineer, and a partner in the firm of Messrs. Kellett, Walker & Rogers, Mining Experts, and was largely interested in South Wales and Lancashire collieries. He joined the old Vol. Battn. (now the 5th Territorial Battn.) Manchester Regt., 3 Aug. 1899. and after passing the School of Instruction for field service, obtained his commission as Capt. 17 June, 1905. On the outbreak of the European War he volunteered with his regt. for foreign service; left England 6 Sept. 1914 for Egypt; landed at the Dardanelles, 3 May, 1915, and died on board H.M. Hospital Ship Reindeer, 26 May, 1915, from wounds received in action there a few days previously. He _m._ at Horwick Parish Church, 3 Sept. 1903, Muriel (Alderbrook, Parbold, Lancashire), 5th dau. of Col. Charles Frederick Ainsworth, of Lower Brazley, Horwick, V.D., and had three sons: Charles William Milward, _b._ 12 Sept. 1904; Martin Milward, _b._ 17 March, 1908; and David Milward, _b._ 25 March, 1911.

=ROGERS, JOSEPH=, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 20073, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=ROGERS, MAURICE CROSTON=, 2nd Lieut., 59th Field Coy. R.E., only _s._ of John Croston Rogers, Senior Inspector of National Schools, Ireland; _b._ Dublin 29 March, 1894; educ. at Campbell College, Belfast, where he won both a Junior and a Senior Scholarship and the McNeill Gold Medal, which is awarded to the best Mathematical Scholar of the year. He early selected the Army as his Profession and, when a branch of the O.T.C. was started at the college, he at once joined it and, after some time, became its Senior Sergeant. While connected with the Corps he passed the test in Signalling, being the first Irish schoolboy to obtain this distinction. He also passed the test in Musketry and obtained Certificate A. In June, 1912, he entered the R.M.A., Woolwich, direct from school. At the end of the first term, his name appeared second on the list of his class and, in a subsequent term, it appeared first. Passing out of the Academy he obtained second place, and was awarded the Armstrong Memorial Medal and the French Prize. He received his commission in the Royal Engineers, 17 July, 1914, and when war was declared was at once summoned to Chatham, where he remained until the 23 Jan. 1915, when he was sent to France and posted to the 59th Field Coy. He died of wounds received in action at Wulverghem, 25 Feb. following, and was buried in the Churchyard of Neuve Eglise, where his men erected an oak cross and kerb over his grave. His commanding officer wrote: “Although he had been with the Company only a short time he was greatly liked by us all, both officers and men, and we deeply regret his death, not only as the death of a very promising young officer, but because it means to us the loss of one for whom, in the short time he had been with us, we had learned to feel a great personal regard and liking.