b. 1878 Muirton, Scotland. d. 28/03/1949 Burghead, Moray, Scotland.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 28/04/1906 Darnaway, Scotland.
Robert M Munro AM
Robert was the son of Thomas Munro, a labourer, and his wife Sophia (nee Ross). Following basic schooling, he became a farm labourer. The incident which led to his Albert Medal left him with a broken right arm and he lost his foot. He was received his medal from King Edward VII in Aberdeen, where the King was also attending the opening of the University. Due to his injuries, he had to give up labouring and he became a hairdresser in Burghead, gaining the nickname “Bob the Barber”. On 21st August 1907, he married Georgina Anderson McRae and they had two daughters and a son. He died in 1949 and is buried in Burghead New Cemetery.
AM CITATION:
On the 28th April last, Munro and a road foreman named Alexander Ross, and William Morris, the labourer who lost his life, having ceased work for the day on the Earlsmill-road, at Darnaway, were crossing the railway bridge over the Brodie Burn on the Highland Railway on their way home, when they were overtaken by a train travelling on the line of rails next the south parapet of the bridge by which they were walking. Morris was walking between the rails, and Munro, who was in advance of Morris, but beside the parapet of the bridge and clear of the rails, made a brave endeavour to drag his comrade from the railway track. He had grasped Morris’s shoulder, when he was caught by the engine and thrown into the space about five feet wide between the near rail and the parapet of the bridge. Unhappily his brave act has resulted in his being maimed for life.
BURIAL LOCATION: BURGHEAD NEW CEMETERY, BURGHEAD, MORAY, SCOTLAND.
BN419
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.
Acknowledgement:
Allan Stanistreet – Image of Robert McKay Munro AM.