Walter Ernest Robinson - Lest We Forget
Walter Ernest Robinson was born August 19, 1893 at Revelstoke. He was the son of John Robinson, born July 1, 1866 in Ontario, of English descent, and Alice Robinson, born June 30, 1871 in Nova Scotia, of German descent. Alice Robinson died in 1902 and John Robinson remarried Alice (Hendricks) Jackson in 1904. John came to Revelstoke around 1891 to work for his brothers Dan and Fred at Revelstoke’s first sawmill. Walter had two sisters: Ada, born 1892 and Myrtle, born 1896 and two brothers: Victor, born 1895 and Arthur, born 1898. All the Robinson children were born in Revelstoke. Walter also had many cousins in Revelstoke, the children of Dan and Fred. Walter was in the employ of P. Burns & Co. butcher shop at the outbreak of the war and was living with his sister, Mrs. P. Loesch, whom he listed as next of kin.
Walter Ernest Robinson signed his enlistment papers February 9, 1915 at Victoria. He had volunteered with the Second Canadian Contingent. His regimental number was 51395. He gave his occupation as soldier. He was 21 years old, single, 6’ tall with light brown hair and brown eyes. His religious affiliation was Presbyterian.
Walter Ernest Robinson died April 22, 1915 during the battle of Ypres. He was the first Revelstoke man to die in battle in the Great War. He was 21 years old. At the time of his death he was a Private serving with the 16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Manitoba) Regiment. His body was never found or identified and his name is memorialized on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial, Belgium.
Walter’s brother Arthur also perished in the war. He perished very near the end while Walter perished at the beginning. Arthur’s body was also never found or identified and his name is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial. Thus the two memorials to the Canadian overseas dead bear witness to two brothers from Revelstoke. Another brother, Victor, also served but he managed to survive the war. They also had at least two cousins who served overseas, Beverley and Fred, both sons of Dan Robinson.
On May 1, 1915 a letter from Walter Robinson, sent on April 11, 1915 sent to J.E. Dickson, was printed in the Mail-Herald. By the time the letter was printed, Walter was already dead. In it he told of the battle of Neuve Chappelle and said that he had gone through places which the Germans had bombarded and it was an awful sight. Walter said that he came into the trenches on the night of April 9, 1915 about 1 am and bombardment started around 6:30 am along with a lot of enemy rifle fire. Their section managed to make their objective without casualties. They were a nervous bunch but excited and happy. Official word of Walter Robinson’s death was not received until the middle of July of 1915, as there was previously some confusion as to whether he had been taken prisoner.
The name of Walter Robinson is inscribed on the Courthouse and Cenotaph plaques as well as on the Methodist Church Honor Roll and St. Peter’s Anglican Chancel Screen.