Charles Graham Robertson VC MM

b. 04/07/1879 Bentham, North Yorkshire. d. 10/05/1954 Dorking, Surrey.

Charles Graham Robertson (1879-1954) was born at The Mill, High Bentham, near Settle, Yorkshire on 4th July 1879, as Charles Prince Graham. The birth was registered by his mother’s brother in law, Charles Kirkbride. No details of the father were given. His mother was Eleanor “Ellen” Graham, a domestic servant. Charles was brought up as Charles Graham Robertson by his aunt and uncle, James Robertson and Catherine nee Graham. Ellen married William Frederick Draycott, a schoolmaster, in 1881 at Rochdale, Lancashire. She died in 1909. Charles had three half-siblings.

Charles G Robertson
VC MM

In 1885, Charles moved with the family to Dorking, where his ‘father’ was employed as a gardener at Riverdale in Pixham. Charles attended St Martin’s and Dorking High Schools. He was employed as a booking clerk by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at Box Hill and Burford Bridge Station, Dorking, Surrey, commencing on 7th December 1893. He moved to Ware Station as a clerk in July 1900. When the war broke out in South Africa he was rejected initially when failing the shooting test. He enlisted as a trooper with the Duke of Cambridge’s Own Imperial Yeomanry on 5th February 1901 as Graham Robertson.

On his return in 1902, he resumed his railway career with the Great Eastern Railway, working at Blackwall from 1903 until 1915. He also played football for Dorking and was a member of the Old Dorking Swimming Club that raced in the river at Castle Mill. With the onset of the Great War, Charles enlisted in the 10th Battalion (Stockbroker’s Battalion), The Royal Fusiliers on 7th September 1915 and arrived at the Western Front in November 1915. He was in action during the Battle of the Ancre 13th-18th November 1916 and the First Battle of the Scarpe 9th-14th April 1917. He was wounded in April 1917 at the Battle of Arras but returned to his battalion in time to take part in a raid on the night of 31st August/1st September 1917, for which he was awarded the Military Medal. The MM ribbon was presented to him and four other men by the Brigade Commander, Brigadier General CW Compton, on 12th September 1917 at Irish House, east of Kemmel. He was promoted to lance corporal shortly afterwards.

In early 1918 he found himself in the thick of the fighting to stem the German advance near Ypres after the March breakthrough known as the Kaiser’s Offensive. Further progress would have seen the Germans reach the Channel ports, with disastrous consequences. On the night of 8th/9th March at Polderhoek Chateau, Robertson repelled a strong German attack on his position. Realising he was about to be cut off, he sent two men for reinforcements whilst he and another held the position, firing his Lewis gun at the advancing Germans. No reinforcements arrived but Robertson continued to hold the position, firing alone when his companion was killed. Twice he had to move further back but he continued to fight, though wounded and under heavy machine gun fire, until his ammunition was exhausted. Without his actions the Germans would have been able to make a much more swift advance in his sector.

Wounded in the stomach, Robertson was not expected to survive. But after being evacuated to England and undergoing intricate surgery at the Ipswich and East Suffolk Hospital, he made an unexpected recovery. On 5th April the London Gazette announced that he had been awarded the Victoria Cross. On 20th April the Dorking & Leatherhead Advertiser reported him writing from his hospital bed that it was ‘the biggest shock of my life’. ‘My word,’ he wrote, ‘I shall be suffering from a swelled head’.

‘There is a strong desire that some public recognition should be made’, said the paper, claiming that the honour was reflected on his native town. ‘It is not given to every town to possess its VC.’

Dorking Urban District Council undertook a public collection to raise funds that the town might honour him. But Robertson rejected any ‘fuss’. He agreed to accept a gold watch and chain but asked that any other monies raised be put to charitable use. In December 1918, after his presentation with his medal at Buckingham Palace, thousands turned out to see Lance Corporal Robertson presented with his watch. He was brought by horse-drawn carriage to the High Street in procession with Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, school children, and the town band. At the High Street the horses were un-harnessed and the carriage was drawn to the Red Lion inn by Silver Badge soldiers (who had been discharged from service through injury). At the Red Lion, decorated in red, white and blue, Lord Ashcombe and the local MP made speeches and Robertson was presented with his watch.

After the war, Charles resumed work at the Great Eastern Railway, retiring in 1939. It seems that his half-sister, Eleanor Draycott, may have lived with Charles and his uncle in Rothes Road during the 1930s. On retirement, he was presented with a set of golf clubs and a cheque for a fireside chair by the manager, Percy Syder. On 13th June 1939, when he was 60, Charles married Doreen Madeline Gascoigne, aged 39. She was a railway clerk who worked alongside him. During the Second World War, he was a sergeant in the Home Guard. He played an active part in Dorking town institutions and enjoyed watching cricket or football, playing snooker and walking on Box Hill. He attended three VC reunions – Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on 26th June 1920, VC Dinner on 9th November 1929 and the Victory Day Celebration Dinner at The Dorchester Hotel, London on 8th June 1946. In 1951 Charles suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair. His health slowly declined and he was admitted to Garth Nursing Home, Horsham Road, Dorking.

Charles Robertson died in Dorking on 10th May 1954 and is buried in Dorking Lawn Cemetery, having specified he did not want a military funeral. He is also commemorated on a memorial outside East India Station on the Docklands Light Railway, and at Dorking Museum.

In addition to the VC and MM he was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal 1899-1902 with three clasps (Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal), 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-20, Victory Medal 1914-19, Defence Medal, George VI Coronation Medal 1937 and Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953. His widow presented the medals to the Regiment in 1977. The Queen’s South Africa Medal, which were missing, was purchased by the Regiment from CJ and AJ Dixon, medal dealers from Bridlington, Yorkshire later that year. The VC is held by the Royal Fusiliers Museum, Tower of London.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: ROYAL FUSILIERS MUSEUM, TOWER OF LONDON.

BURIAL PLACE: DORKING CEMETERY, DORKING, SURREY.

PLOT 36, GRAVE 360.