HERBERT THOMAS ROBINSON

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From May through to September 2026, Andrew will be fulfilling his dream to hike the iconic Land’s End to John O’Groats! You are all warmly invited to follow Andrew’s epic journey on his Facebook page, “Andrew Beal LEJOG” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577588795730

As Andrew hikes the 1,300+ miles, he will raise funds for the Ipswich War Memorial Project to help finance our future exhibitions and research of the brave Ipswich men and women who lost their lives in conflict. If you would like to make a small donation, please click on the link: https://gofund.me/5d4a50570

Thank you for your love and support. Andrew & Helen – I.W.M.P.

 

Born: 1891, Ipswich.

Died: 22nd January 1916; age 24; KiA.

Residence: Cemetery Road, Ipswich.

Enlistment Location: Ipswich; Date: December 1908.

Date of Entry Therein: 16th January 1915 – France.

 

Rank: Private; Service Number: 7840

Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, 2nd Battalion.

 

Medals Awarded: Victory, British War & 1915 Star.

 

Grave Reference:

1.B.19.

Spoilbank Cemetery,

Leper,

West-Vlaanderen,

Belgium.

 

Brother-in-law to WILLIAM ROBERT WESTWOOD.

 

CENSUS

 

1901   14, Fairlight Street, Ipswich.

 

Herbert was 9 years old and living with his parents & sister.

Thomas Henry Robinson, 51, a Basket Maker; born Ipswich.

Mary Ann Robinson (Foulger), 48; born Ipswich.

Elizabeth Annie Robinson, 23, born Old Kent Road, London.

 

1911   Barrosa Barracks, Stanhope Lines, Aldershot, Surrey.

Herbert was 20 years old, a soldier, ranked Private for the 2nd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment.

 

Herbert’s mother, Mary Ann Robinson, died in 1902 in Ipswich.

 

His father, Thomas Henry Robinson, died on the 12th April 1910, at his home, 88, Cemetery Road, Ipswich and was buried in Section W, Ipswich Old Cemetery.

 

In 1915, at Ipswich, Herbert married Doris Lilian Maud Westwood, a packer at a tobacco factory, born January 1897, Ipswich – daughter of William Charles Westwood, a railway guard for the Great Eastern Railway and Agnes Westwood (nee Dade), of 6, Boar’s Head Lane, Ipswich.

 

Soldiers’ Effects to Doris Liliam M. Robinson – widow.

 

Herbert is also remembered on the war memorial at St. Margaret’s Church, Ipswich.

IMG_6283

william-robert-westwood-herbert-thomas-robinson

Mr. and Mrs W. Westwood, of 6, Boar’s Head Lane, may well claim to have a military family, as, in addition to four sons and a son-in-law serving, one of their daughters is in the W.A.A.C.s. The names and service are as follows: (1) Pte. William Westwood served 12 years with the R.F.A. and A.S.C.; died from burns in Mesopotamia on August 21st, 1918. (2) Pte. Albert Westwood served 10 years in the Suffolk Regiment. He has been in hospital in Salonika since December 1917, suffering from frost-bitten feet. (3) Sapper Charles Westwood served eight years with the Suffolks and Royal Engineers; discharged last March after serving 3 years and 4 months in France. (4) Sergt. Frederick Westwood was called up at the outbreak of war and has served 7 years with the Suffolks. He was wounded at Ypres, 1914, and again at Loos; now recovering from malaria fever in Salonika. (5) Pte. Eva Westwood joined the W.A.A.C. in 1917, being the first woman to volunteer in the Stoke district. (6) Pte. Herbert Robinson (son-in-law), who enlisted in December 1908, in the Suffolks, was killed in action in January, 1916.

22nd January 1916, The Suffolk Regiment diary noted:
 
“A terrific explosion occurred. The ground shook violently, and an immense column of earth shot up in front of the Bluff, carrying away the south-eastern face of it. The explosion was not followed by any bombardment or attack, and for the moment, no one realised what had happened. Men in the trenches next to the canal were buried several feet deep; ammunition boxes were hurled hundreds of yards; and all the surrounding trenches upon which the Battalion had spent so much labour, as well as the systems of tunnels within the Bluff, collapsed completely.”
Dazed and confused, the command was quickly regained. The War Diary noted that “the garrison of trench 28 immediately opened rapid fire” as the men awaited the counterattack they felt sure would come. Lieutenant Dix, finding none of his men had survived the explosion, took what men he could find and immediately manned the right-hand lip of the crater against attack. They waited for the enemy, but thankfully, neither they nor their artillery came.
The official figures for killed, wounded or missing that day will probably never be known. The official figure now is 45 Suffolk men killed that day, all of whom were privates and NCOs. No officers of the Battalion are recorded as being killed that day.
The Battalion received a special commendation for their actions that night from the commander of the 3rd Division, Major-General R. Haldane, who described their actions in a Divisional Memo which was typed out and pasted into the War Diary by the then Adjutant, Captain H.C.N. Trollope. It concluded: “The conduct of the Battalion under these trying circumstances was excellent, all ranks behaving in a soldier-like manner, so that their position, which might easily have become serious, was never in danger.”
Of all the amazing incidents that occurred that night, the tale of No. 4142 Sgt Harry Bragg was probably the most courageous. The Regimental History modestly recorded his award of the DCM as being “for conspicuous gallantry,” but the truth was far more amazing. Bragg and his men were manning the front line yards from where the mine was detonated. Initially blown upwards, they were subsequently buried under almost four feet of earth. Bragg succeeded in digging his way out, then single-handedly dug out four of his comrades, one of whom was wounded. They then manned the crater for the rest of the day and what was described as “hot fire.”

 

Suffolk reg

Suffolk Regiment, 2nd Battalion:

Suffolk Regiment Battalion movements

Friends of The Suffolk Regiment

One Comment

  • Dear Sir, How nice to see my Family in these records my farther is no 4 Sgt Frederick Westwood I have a very old copy of this photo and to see my Grandad and Granmother its lovley I am doing my family tree and this will all help with my records,Thank you Mr Robinson!! it would nice to here from you.
    Phil Westwood

    Reply

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