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John Peter Robertson Tales of the V.C.

Private John Robertson, Canadian Infantry, was awarded the V.C. for bravery near Passchendaele on 6th November 1917. He was killed during this action. Private Robinson was a soldier serving in the 27th Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment) during the infamous Battle of Passchendaele. During an advance towards the German positions his platoon was held up by uncut wire and a machine gun causing many casualties. Robertson moved quickly to an opening on the flank, rushed the machine gun and, after a desperate struggle with the crew, killed four and then turned the gun on the remainder, who, overcome by the fierceness of his attack retreated by running towards their own lines. This brave action enabled the platoon to advance. He inflicted many more casualties among the enemy and then, carrying the captured machine gun, he led his platoon to the final objective where he selected an excellent position and got the gun again into action targeting the retreating enemy who by this time were quite demoralised by the fire brought to bear on them. During the consolidation of the new position Pte. Robertson continued to use the machine gun to bring down fire on enemy snipers; it is considered that this example of courage and coolness seemingly encouraged his comrades and inspired them to even greater efforts. Later, when two Canadian snipers were badly wounded in front of the trench he went out and carried one of them in under very heavy fire. Robertson was killed just as he returned with the second man. This account of his actions was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader.
Article with annotations.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Jeremy Arter

DATE

/

LANGUAGE

eng

ITEMS

5

INSTITUTION

Europeana 1914-1918

PROGRESS

START DATE
TRANSCRIBERS
CHARACTERS
LOCATIONS
ENRICHMENTS

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METADATA

Source

UGC

Contributor

europeana19141918:agent/8d1d6eb94c917dceb7e8391761cbf75b

Date

1917-11-06

Type

Story

Language

eng
English

Country

Europe

DataProvider

Europeana 1914-1918

Provider

Europeana 1914-1918

DatasetName

2020601_Ag_ErsterWeltkrieg_EU

Begin

1917-11-06

End

1917-11-06

Language

mul

Agent

James Price Lloyd | europeana19141918:agent/7a708291a3d2b453d7457d4b0191f092
Jeremy Arter | europeana19141918:agent/8d1d6eb94c917dceb7e8391761cbf75b
John Peter Robertson | europeana19141918:agent/e06ec21841eba4fd559bb0d96af68bd5

Created

2019-09-11T08:30:45.579Z
2019-09-11T08:30:45.549Z
2019-09-11T08:30:45.550Z
2013-05-07 20:25:36 UTC
2013-05-08 15:04:42 UTC
2013-05-08 15:04:50 UTC
2013-05-08 15:04:59 UTC
2013-05-08 15:05:07 UTC
2013-05-08 15:05:15 UTC

Provenance

INTERNET

Record ID

/2020601/https___1914_1918_europeana_eu_contributions_5457

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Article with annotations. || Private John Carroll, Australian Imperial Force, was awarded the V.C. for bravery. John Carroll (1891-1971), soldier, labourer and railway employee, was born on 16 August 1891 in Brisbane, son of John Carroll, labourer, and his wife Catherine, née Wallace, both Irish-born. When he was two the family moved to Donnybrook, Western Australia, and then to Yarloop. About 1905 they settled at Kurrawang where John and his father joined the Goldfields Firewood Supply Co. as labourers. Tall and well built, John was a good athlete and a prominent member of the local football club; he was working as a railway guard on the Kurrawang line when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force as a private on 27 April 1916. Carroll embarked for England in August with reinforcements for the 44th Battalion, then on 14 November was transferred to the 33rd Battalion. He went into the line at Armentières, France, and served there until April 1917 when his unit moved into position for the Messines offensive. On 7 June, in the battle of Messines Ridge, he rushed an enemy trench and bayoneted four men, then rescued a comrade who was in difficulties. Later in the advance he attacked a machine-gun crew, killing three men and capturing the gun, and, in spite of heavy shelling and machine-gun fire, dug out two of his mates who had been buried by a shell explosion. During the battle his battalion was in the line for ninety-six hours and Carroll 'displayed most wonderful courage and fearlessness' throughout. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and in September was promoted lance corporal. On 12 October, in the second battle of Passchendaele, he was severely wounded and did not rejoin his unit until June 1918; next month he was transferred to A.I.F. headquarters, London, and in August returned to Australia. This account of his actions was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader. Date stamp: 14 December 1917.

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John McAulay VC DCM was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was 28 years old, and a Sergeant in the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place at the Battle of Cambrai for which he was awarded the VC. On 27 November 1917 at Fontaine Notre Dame when all his officers had become casualties, Sergeant McAulay assumed command of his company and under artillery and machine gun fire successfully held and consolidated the objectives gained. He reorganised the company and noticing a counter attack developing repulsed it by the skilful and bold use of machine guns, causing heavy casualties to the enemy. The Sergeant then carried his company commander, who was mortally wounded, to a place of safety. After the war he resumed his career in the Glasgow Police, rising to the rank of Inspector before retiring in 1948. The attached account of his actions was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader. Date stamp: 26 January 1918. || Article with annotations.

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6 Items

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