Arthur Henry Robinson - Lest We Forget

Arthur Henry Robinson was born May 5, 1898 at Revelstoke. He was the son of John Robinson, born July 1, 1866 in Ontario and Alice Thomas Robinson, born June 30, 1871 in Nova Scotia. Alice Robinson died in 1902 and John Robinson married Alice Hendricks Jackson in 1904. John Robinson was the brother of Dan and Fred Robinson, owners of Revelstoke’s first saw mills, and John joined his brothers here to work with them in their mills. Arthur had two sisters: Ada, born in 1892 and Myrtle, born in 1896, and two brothers: Walter born in 1893 and Victor, born in 1895. All the Robinson children were born in Revelstoke.

Arthur Henry Robinson signed his enlistment papers June 1, 1916 at Kamloops.  He was 18 years old, single, 5’ 7” tall with brown hair and grey-brown eyes. He worked as a printer. His religious affiliation was Methodist. Arthur had been serving with the 102nd RMR prior to enlisting.

Arthur Henry Robinson died August 11, 1918 perhaps during the start of Canada’s One Hundred days of fighting at the end of the war. He was 20 years old. At the time of his death he was a Private serving with the 47th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (British Columbia) Regiment. His body was never found or identified and his name is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial.

Arthur Robinson was the brother of Walter Robinson who perished in April of 1915. Walter was the first volunteer from Revelstoke to perish in the war on active service overseas. Arthur died near the very end of the war. Walter’s body was also never located or identified and his name is memorialized on the Menin Gate (Ypres). The Robinson brothers are the only two members from the same Revelstoke family to die in the Great War. Their other brother Victor also served in the war and survived. They also had at least two cousins who served overseas, Beverley and Fred, both sons of Dan Robinson.

The name of Arthur Robinson is inscribed on the Courthouse and Cenotaph plaques as well as the Methodist Church Honor Roll and the YMCA Honor Roll.

Descendants of the Robinson family still reside in Revelstoke.