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Biography
Jack Robinson was born
on 23rd June 1892, at 4, Factory Street, Darlaston, Staffordshire.
The second child of Arthur and Harriet Robinson and the eldest son.
Jack had four brothers and two sisters. Seeking work the family
moved to the North East of England and West Hartlepool in 1896 where
Arthur Robinson continued his trade as a blacksmith.
Something of a bully
Arthur Robinson would regularly beat his children, particularly his
son Jack to such a degree that the young Jack ran away from home and
took up with a travelling fairground in the Trimdon area and
eventually ended up living in the Spennymoor where he was given a
roof over his head by a Mr Bland , a local cobbler. He learned the
skills of a cobbler from Mr Bland and they served him well into his
old age, repairing his own shoes. Arthur Robinson, searching for his
eldest son, tracked him down and demanded he return home. Mindful of
the abuse he had suffered Mr Bland threatened Arthur with police
involvement should he forcibly take his son back. Jack did not
return to West Hartlepool with his father but completed his
education under the guidance of the Spennymoor cobbler. Arthur
Robinson returned to West Hartlepool and eventually left England for
Canada promising to find work and later send for his family. He
never did, and his wife and remaining children stayed in West
Hartlepool.
On leaving school Jack
found employment like so many of his peers at the time in the local
coal mines and worked at East Hetton Colliery in Kelloe and at
Thornley and Wheatley Hill Collieries inn the Durham coalfield. Continuing his work in the
mines Jack met and married a local girl, Martha Marr, from Quarrington Hill,
County Durham, on 11th April 1914.
A little over 3months
after Jack and Martha married, war in Europe broke out and Lord
Kitchener called for volunteers for his New Army. Jack answered the
call and joined his county regiment, the Durham Light Infantry,
enlisting in the 14th (Service) Battalion. Within weeks he would
find himself at the other end of the country being trained for war.
The path Jack followed
with his regiment are documented on the page for the
14th DLI
so there is no need to repeat what has
already been covered. It is however worth documenting that Jacks
first taste of total war came on the 25th September 1915, two weeks
after arriving in France and being thrust into the Battle of Loos. There are two
other notable events which can
be highlighted and these involve the two gallantry awards of which
Jack was a recipient. The Military Medal, and the Distinguished
Conduct Medal.
Awards of gallantry
medals were listed in the London Gazette, a rule of thumb being that
the award was listed 3 months after the action that determined it.
The Military Medal was
gazetted in October 1916. Citations were not given for Military
Medals but occasionally a War Diary may make mention of an action
and the name of a soldier who was awarded the MM. Unfortunately this
is not the case for Jack Robinson, but using the 3 month rule, this
would place him somewhere in the Ypres Salient around July / August
time 1916.
The pdf. files at the
bottom of the page link to the gazette entries. You will need Adobe Acrobat reader
in order to view the files. Download it by following this link if
you don't already have it on your machine.
http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/
At some point during
the actions he took part in with his battalion, Jack sustained a
severe wound to the rear of his right knee and ankle which was
caused by shrapnel. Severe enough for surgeons to want to amputate,
Jack refused to allow this and following restorative surgery and a
period of rehabilitation at the Ascot Hospital, Jack returned to the
front.
At the outbreak of war
two of Jacks brothers, Joseph and Arthur would also enlist. Joe with
the Durham Light Infantry and Arthur with the Royal Navy.
Joseph Robinson and Arthur Robinson
Joseph Best Robinson,
was born in 1895 in Darlaston Staffordshire, like his older brother
John (Jack), Joe would enlist soon after the outbreak of hostilities
and join the Durham Light Infantry. Joe would transfer to
the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry before he saw action with the
Durham's and joined the theatre of war in France on 5th May 1915. He would find himself in
action on the 1st of July 1916, the first day of the battle of the
Somme. He sustained a gunshot wound to the jaw and eventually found
himself transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers Depot before
discharge form the army in 1919. Joe survived the war and lived in
Hartlepool raising his family until his death in January1976 aged 80
years.
Arthur Robinson joined
the Royal Navy and after his period of training would serve as a
Stoker 1st Class on HMS Cockatrice which was a destroyer. His service record
shows that his employer made a request to have Arthur back in
civilian employment but was declined being unable to be spared.
Arthur contracted pneumonia and died just four days before the
Armistice on 7/11/1918 at Leith Naval Hospital, Edinburgh. He was laid to rest In
Hartlepool North ( Stranton)cemetery and is remembered on the war
memorial in the town centre. Arthur was 21 years of age when he
died.
Jack Robinson
would rise through the ranks to become a Company Sergeant Major
or Warrant Officer Class II and would continue to see action at
Arras, Lens and Cambrai before the 14th Battalion of the Durham
Light Infantry were disbanded in France on the 31st January
1918. Jack would then transfer to the Northumberland Fusiliers,
although to which battalion remains unclear. He would remain
with the Northumberland Fusiliers (Possibly the 52nd or
53rd battalions) and serve as part of the Army Of Occupation
following the Armistice. By this time Jack had attained the rank
of Acting Regimental Sergeant Major. He was still serving as a
soldier in April 1920.
Home
War over Jack
returned to his wife Martha in Quarrington Hill and began the
process of trying to get life back to normal after the horrors
he had witnessed in France and Belgium. He took up employment
once again in the coal industry which was the biggest employer
in County Durham. Jack recommenced work at East Hetton Colliery,
Kelloe, the village to which they would move and eventually make
their home for the remainder of their married lives. They had
two children, Jack, who came along in April 1921 and a daughter
Elsie who came along much later, September 1934.
During the years
of WW2, Jack served in the local Kelloe Home guard and Her
Majesty's Prison Service, at
Wandsworth Prison and Durham Prison. It was during his
service at Wandsworth he would sit in the condemned cell the
night before his execution with the
John Amery
who was convicted of treason and hanged on 19th December 1945.
Amery was the first person to plead guilty and be executed for
treason since 1654. Amongst Jacks memorabilia, there used to be
a Woodbine packet that was autographed by Amery. " With best
wishes John Amery". Sadly this was mislaid.
In the cell next
door to Amery was
William
Joyce, better known as
Lord Haw
Haw and a little over two weeks later on 3rd January 1946 he
too would take the walk to meet
Albert
Pierrepoint, his assistant, and the gallows. Joyce would be
the second to last person to be executed in the United Kingdom
for a crime other than murder. Jack would also watch over Joyce
on a day to day basis.
In total Jack
Robinson would serve the Prison Service for 4 years from 1943 to
1947. As stated thuis was split between Wandsworth and Durham.
Upon leaving the service Jack would spend the last 10 years of
his working life back in the coal mining industry at East Hetton
Colliery, Kelloe and would eventually retire on 23 June 1957
aged 65 years.
His latter years
were spent enjoying the passion he held dear, gardening. A large
allotment used to fill his days. He hand built his own green
houses, installed the heating systems that grew the tomatoes
that he lovingly tended everyday and worked the soil throughout
the seasons that kept vegetables a plenty on the table.
On a social level
Jack was a committee member of Kelloe Workingmen's Club and
enjoyed a pint with his Woodbines. It was in the club on 11th
April 1964 that he and his wife celebrated 50 years of marriage.
He also liked a small wager on the horses most days and took an
interest in football both local and professional. In fact the
evening Jack passed away he was sitting in bed watching the
highlights of an Under 23 International match between England
and West Germany. 14th October 1970, aged 78 years.
Jack Robinson 1892
- 1970
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Jack Robinson was typical
of a breed of men of who can be counted on one hand and
in the very near future will exist no longer. The vast
majority of these men were from humble beginnings and
they took responsibility for their lives and for the
lives of those who depended on them. Men who worked
tirelessly before the First World War began in jobs and
professions that placed physical demands upon them every
day and often placed them in harms way. Yet, when the
call came they stepped forward in their hundreds of
thousands when hostilities threatened their country.
Men who went
unquestioningly over the top to almost certain death
time after time. |
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As Shakespeare said:
"He was a man,
take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like
again." |
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