| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
John William Robson was born in Lund the 6 Oct 1876, the son of John Robson and his wife Sarah Ann, who married in the village in 1875. John was an agricultural labourer and his son followed the same path, moving between employers on a regular basis. In 1891 he worked at the Lay’s Hill Farm, Lund; in 1901 at the Mount Pleasant Farm, Middleton on the Wolds. John married Harriet Lidster on the 11 Apr 1903, they had three children, Edith Mary born 21 Jun 1904, Joseph born 12 Jan 1906, and Kenneth Edwin born 8 Dec 1912. By the time war broke out the family were living at 12 Norwood Grove, Beverley and John was working as a maltsters labourer.
John enlisted in the army at the age of 39 on 11 Dec 1915. He joined the 14th (Reserve) Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment for training and was then transferred to the 1st Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment who were serving on the Salonika Front in the Balkans where French and British forces were ranged against the Bulgarians in the mountainous region north of Greece. In the early hours of 26 May 1917 John was on a patrol at the frontline and was being relieved by another party when he received a serious bayonet wound to his right knee. He was treated at length in the field but was the subject of an inquiry as a possibly self-inflicted wound was considered a serious offence. It was established that it was an accident as he had stood up to move in the dark and hadn’t seen the weapon. John was moved to the 176th Company of the Labour Corps but stayed on the Salonika Front until he returned home and was demobilised in 1919. In his time in the area he had served as a “camp policeman” and was considered sober and of good character. John was awarded the War and Victory Medals.
John worked as a builder’s labourer when re returned home and by 1939 he and his family had moved to Robert Wood Avenue, Beverley. Harriet died in 1943 and was buried in Queensgate Cemetery; John died in 1944 aged 67.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |