Frank Dalton Robinson
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Frank Dalton Robinson was born in Bulwell in 1898 (J/A/S), the son of Alice Robinson. On subsequent census records Frank's surname was given as Scott but he enlisted as 'Robinson.' Alice, who was also born in Bulwell, married John William Scott (b. Bulwell) in 1898 (O/N/D Mansfield) by whom she had at leat three children, all of whom were born in Mansfield: Beatrice Evelyn birth registered 1903 (J/F/M), Minnie birth registerd 1906 (J/F/M) and John William b. 1908. In 1901 John William, a coal hewer, Alice and Frank (2) were living at 2 Gladstone Street, Mansfield. Also in the household was a boarder, another colliery worker. By 1911 John and Alice were living at 6 Hope Street, Mansfield, with Frank, Beatrice, Minnie and John. At the time of Frank's death in 1915 his mother was living at 106 Smith Street, Mansfield. She probably died in 1930 (reg. Mansfield).
1st Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment). formerly 1930. Served as Robinson. Frank Dalton enlisted in Nottingham but was probably living with his mother in Mansfield. Frank served in France from 28 November 1914 and was killed in the area of La Bassee on 13 January 1915, aged 16½. He is now buried in Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France (grave reference XXIX C 24). He qualified for the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. The 1st Bn Sherwood Foresters landed at Le Havre on 5 November 1914 as part of the 24th Brigade, 8th Division, to support the BEF on the Western Front. La Bassee, where Frank is said to have been killed, was fought over by German and Franco-British forces from October 1914 during attemps by both to envelop the northern flank of their enemy. The town of La Bassee was occupied by the German army. However, after early November the First Battle of Ypres took military priority although German and British troops continued with local operations in the area of La Bassee into January and February 1915. The insurgencies had, though, little impact on the geography of the front line. CWGC - History of Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery (extract): '"Caberet Rouge" was a small, red-bricked, red-tiled café that stood close to this site in the early days of the First World War. The café was destroyed by shellfire in March 1915 but it gave its unusual name to this sector and to a communication trench that led troops up the front-line. Commonwealth soldiers began burying their fallen comrades here in March 1916. The cemetery was used mostly by the 47th (London) Division and the Canadian Corps until August 1917 and by different fighting units until September 1918. It was greatly enlarged in the years after the war when as many as 7,000 graves were concentrated here from over 100 other cemeteries in the area. For much of the twentieth century, Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery served as one of a small number of ‘open cemeteries’ at which the remains of fallen servicemen newly discovered in the region were buried. Today the cemetery contains over 7,650 burials of the First World War, over half of which remain unidentified.' (www.cwgc.org)
Mansfield Reporter, 5 February 1915: ‘Crown Farm Pony Driver Killed. Mansfield has this week added another name to the Roll of Honour through the death of one of her many patriotic sons, who, before the war worked at Crown Farm Colliery. Mrs Scott, of 106, Smith-street, Mansfield, received information from the War Office of the death in the firing line of Frank D Robinson. Mrs Scott’s sixteen-year-old son was in the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters. He left England on the 29th November, and as killed on January 13th at La Bassee, the death notice and letter from the King and Queen being received on Sunday last. The letter runs as follows:- ‘the King commands me to assure you of the true sympathy of HM the King and the Queen in your sorrow. Kitchener.’ Among the many postcards he sent home was one on which was a photo of their Majesties the King and Queen, and on the back it said: ‘With our best wishes for Christmas, 1914. May God protect you and bring you home safe. Mary R., George RI.’’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, 6 February 1915, photograph with caption: 'Pte F Robinson, 1st Sherwood Foresters, a pony driver at Crown Farm Colliery, Mansfield, killed in action January 13, aged 16½ years.’ Mansfield Chronicle Advertiser, 4 February 1915: 'Killed at La Bassee on 13 January 1915. Letter from the King "The King commands me to assure you of the true sympathy of H.M. the King and the Queen in your sorrow. Kitchener."' Registers of Soldiers' Effects: legatee mother Alice Scott. WW1 Pension Ledgers Index Card: named his mother, Alice Scott, resident Mansfield.
