Donald Lennox Robertson

DL Robertson's memorial plaque in High Wycombe Cemetery


Priory Avenue (picture from SWOP website)	Donald Lennox Robertson, courtesy of the Royal Grammar School

Donald Lennox Robertson 1897 - 1917

My name is Donald Lennox Robertson and I was born in Calcutta, India, on 15th October, 1897. My father, Robert Lennox Robertson, was born in Belfast County Antrim in 1866, although my gransparents came from Scotland - Lennox was my grandmother's maiden name. He was a watchmaker at first but later became a civil engineer and they needed skilled men like him over in India. This is where my father met my mother, Eveleen Winifred Mary Leech, who had been born out there (although her parents were from Oxfordshire). My father married my mother in West Bengal, India, on 2nd January 1897. I was born later that year but, sadly, it was also the same year that my father died. So my parents had a very short marriage. My mother came to live in England and as she was now a widow she made her living as a dressmaker. At the time of my death, she was living at 'Felixstowe', Priory Avenue, High Wycombe, a town we came to know well as I was educated at the Royal Grammar School. After I left school I became apprenticed to a motor engineer.

When the war broke out I did what many of my Grammar School friends did and joined up. I was in Bexley Heath at that time and my last known address, before my death, was in Pinner, Middx. I became Rifleman S/32555 in the 8th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. In 1916 the 8th Battalion had been sent to the Somme, and the following year, 1917, was also a busy one with the Battalion attending the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line from 14th March, the Battles Of Arras (First Battle Of The Scarpe - 9th April, Third Battle Of The Scarpe - 3rd May), the Battles Of Ypres (Battle Of Langemarck - 18th August, and fighting on the Menin Road - 22nd August) and finally the First Battle Of Passchendaele on the 12th October.

The British had planned to capture the ridges south and east of the city of Ypres as part of a strategy decided by the Allies at conferences in November 1916 and May 1917. Passchendaele lay on the last ridge east of Ypres, 5 miles from a railway junction at Roulers, which was an important part of the German 4th Army supply system. After a dry spell in September, rains began on 3 October and by the Battle of Poelcappelle on 9 October much of the British field artillery opposite Passchendaele was out of action due to the effects of rain, mud and German artillery-fire. The remaining guns were either left in old positions and fired at the limit of their range or were operated from any flat ground near wooden roadways or from platforms, many of which were unstable, when it was found impossible to move them forward to new positions before the attack began.

During the battle, misleading information and delays in communication left Herbert Plumer and Field Marshal Douglas Haig under the impression that a substantial advance had taken place towards Passchendaele ridge. The attackers had managed to advance towards the village but most of the captured ground had been lost to German counter-attacks during the afternoon. The British offensive was postponed until the weather improved and communications behind the front were restored. Two German divisions intended for Italy were diverted to Flanders, to replace "extraordinarily high" losses. The battle had been a German defensive success but was costly for both sides. The Second Battle of Passchendaele began on the 26th October.

I was killed in action on the 2nd Dec 1917 fighting at Passchendaele and I was still only 20 years old. I am remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial, at Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

My cousin William Robertson Bennie, the son of my aunt Mary, was also killed on the same day as I was, the 2nd Dec 1917. You can imagine how my mother and my aunt must have felt when they heard the news. William served in the 7th Battalion (Territorials) who were attached to the 16th Battalion of The Highland and Light Infantry, City Of Glasgow Regiment. He was 22 years old. Like me he is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial, at Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Researched by Margaret Anderton, Flackwell Local Area History Group and Sally Scagell, Lost the Plot.
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