Date of birth: 26/10/1883

Place of birth: Albion Mines, Nova Scotia, Canada

Profession: Engineer

Country: Canada

Force: Canadian Expeditionary Force

Rank: Private

Service number: 552665

Enlistment date: 14/06/1915

Enlistment place: Fort-Macleod, Alberta, Canada

Units:  —  Canadian Infantry, 27th Bn. (City of Winnipeg)  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 06/11/1917

Place of death: Passchendaele, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 34

British War Medal Medal

Victoria Cross Medal — 11/01/1918

Victory Medal Medal

Private James Robertson served in the Canadian Infantry 27th (City of Winnepeg) Battalion, part of the 6th Canadian Brigade of the 2nd Canadian Division. With his 6 ft 3, Robertson, a locomotive engineer known as ‘Singing Pete’ was a good-humoured giant of a man who had refused all offers of promotion. On the 5th of November, the 27th Battalion went to the front line, relieving the 39th Bn. The Battalion participated on the 6th of November 1917, in the last phase of the Second Battle of Passchendaele. The objectives were the German positions in the village of Passchendaele. At 3.a.m. the Battalion went to the assembly point. The Germans spotted the movements and started shelling the positions. Notwithstanding the shelling the Battalion were in the correct jumping off position at 4 a.m. At 6 a.m. zero hour our barrage came down 150 yards in front of the frontline. During the advance, the Battalion was held up by uncut wire and they suffered casualties due to German machine gun fire. It’s in this phase of the attack that Pte. Robertson was recommended the Victoria Cross for his action. Pte. Robertson dashed to an opening on the flank and rushed to a German machine gun position. He was able to take out four German gunners, captured the machine gun and employed it against its former owners. He brought the German machine gun in position during the advance to the final objective, using it whenever targets presented themselves through the village of Passchendaele. The German defenders retreated and the final objective was captured at 7.30 a.m. The village of Passchendaele was under control of the 2nd Canadian Division. At this point, the Battalion started to dig in and to consolidate the captured ground. During the day, the Germans were shelling these positions and carried out a few unsuccessful counterattacks. It was during one of the minor fire-fights that Pte. Robertson lost his life. From his position on the eastern edge of the village he saw two men from his battalion lying wounded in advance of the Canadian line. He set out across the open field to bring them in. He rescued the first man, but when he went back to bring in the second wounded man, he fell before reaching him (probably hit). He picked himself up, continued on his way and brought the man closer to the frontline. At that moment a shell exploded near him, killing him instantly. His remains were later found on follow coordinate 28. D. 6. b. 72.32, near Passchendaele. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for these actions and his now remembered on the Tyne Cot Cemetery.

"The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account", McCarthy C., London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995, pg. 137-138. Sources used

"VC's of the First World War, Passchendaele 1917", Snelling S., Wrens Park Publishing, 2000, pg. 268-273. Sources used

Ancestry http://home.ancestry.co.uk/ Further reference

Circumstances of Death http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-119.01-e.php?q2=28&q3=2343&sqn=914&tt=1467&PHPSESSID=pf868q7td101us1usidkvu8pl1 Sources used

CWGC http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/464460/ROBERTSON,%20JAMES%20PETER Sources used

Service Records http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/search.aspx Sources used

The Long, Long Trail http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/ Sources used

War Diary 27th. Canadian Bn. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/02015202_e.html Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/464460

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=9195c3ef-a672-4b09-b944-adb85e4f79be

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/6090685

The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/464460