We Remember

The Porch recognizes a very special Hatter that gave his all in World War 1. Brian and Wes Krause discuss the impact one person can make during war. Let us introduce to you Private James Peter Robertson, a man that received the  Victoria Cross for outstanding devotion to duty in attack

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I'm here on the southeast hill in Medicine Hat at Robertson Park. It's a memorial to a man who served in the First World War. Gave his life in the First World War. His name was J.P. Robertson. He was a private JP stands for James Peter. He was known as singing Pete when he worked for the C.P.R.. He was an engineer, and he used to always be singing when he was working on the train between Medicine Hat and Calgary. This park is located in Southeast Medicine Hat, Cambridge Street to the south, Belfast Street to the north, and fourth Avenue southeast to the east. It is in memory of Private Robertson, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in battle on the battlefield in France, where he gave his life. We're going to tell his story. And I'm joined now by Wes Krause who is the curator of the South Alberta Light Horse Regimental Museum. Among the other hats that you wear, your the archives officer for the Royal Canadian Legion, Robertson Memorial Branch, number 17, here in Medicine Hat Welcome Wes. Well, thank you for the invitation. And as I said, our thoughts are probably parallel because I was thinking of getting hold of you anyhow, on other matters that we'll discuss later. You bet. The Robertson Memorial Branch ties in nicely with what we're talking about today. Private Pete Robertson, who was known as Singing Pete, the, CPR engineer who enlisted and went to fight in the First World War and the Battle of Passchendaele. He lost his life. That's what was important about the Battle of Passchendaele, because I understand, were three engagements. Yes, this was the second Battle of Passchendaele. And basically what it was was a salient that was in the German lines and that basically the front lines. And it threatened the Canadian Corps, who was positioned in that area. So they needed to break that salient open so that they could move forward past that, that whole area. That was all tied into the overall battle of Ypres or as they call it. And that was that. That was a major battle in World War one. But it was also a very terrible battle because it inflicted thousands and thousands of casualties. Now also, too, it is true that, the conditions at the time were not very good. And, one of the things that, that was present and it is unfortunate is just whether it rained a lot in that area and what the men were taught and trained to do, if they're advancing across no man's land. And they got to their advancing and some of their chums had just happened to slide or slip into a shell hole, a crater that was filled full of water. They were trained to keep on going, not to stop, not to stop the advance. And that's something that's really interesting when we look at the second, battle of Passchendaele and James Robertson's part in that, he had a pretty major part, albeit in a small, small, section, what was happening? There was a German machine gun, him in placement that was threatening the the battalion now use was the 27th Battalion, which was a Winnipeg battalion. There's a long history as how we got to that, but, he he was volunteered to do this. Now, as you said, you know, singing Pete was his nickname. Yeah. He had a great voice, but he was also a big guy about. Six three, if I. Recall. That's correct. Or well over 180 pounds. And, he, the commanding officer of his company said, you know, we need somebody to silence that, German machine gun. Well, he put up his hand, of course, and a couple of other guys, and they went through that quagmire of the battlefield, and they took the position, and he captured the German gun, and he turned the German gun on the Germans. So that was really something else as well, too. Know when you think about, oh, yeah, it's a German gun. Like picking up your coffee mug here. Oh no no no no no, the, German maximum machine gun was a very heavy, heavy arm. It we probably about 35 to 40 pounds. And then you've got ammunition and it's also water cooled. So it's got a thick jacket on it. You've got a water container for that. So it's, it's not something that you just pick up and run with it. But he did. And his guys that he was working with there or that helped him. Yeah. They, they put in a position and they engaged the Germans and fought back that, that advance. So you didn't win the Victoria Cross for that? No, he did not. That's right. Is once he consolidated that position, he, the rest of the battalion started to attempt to move forward. And there were a pair of snipers that, was the battalion that came under fire, and they're badly wounded. He saw this, and he didn't like that idea he was going to he was going to help these guys. He knew his position was consolidated, so he thought he was the available guy, but also the available guy that would be able to pick these guys up and get them back. So he crossed again through that, that battlefield under fire and rescued one of the fellas, brought him back to the lines. He went back to pick up the other guy, and that's when he was killed. I understand that was a probably our artillery shell that, That's exactly right. Because one of the guys or, I think there was 1 or 2 of the guys in his group that took the machinegun, position. They had been killed by artillery in that position. And so. Yeah. Yeah, it and again, now we think artillery, okay, you know, big deal. Or just a couple of shells going here and there. But both sides, German and Canadians, they employed a massive amount of artillery. And one of the things the Canadian Corps were trained was to advance under artillery cover. So it was walking fire. So the artillery was laid on a barrage, basically in a line. The Canadian Corps was behind that. And then at a specific time, that artillery fire would advance forward about 25 to 50 yards, and then the men would advance that. So the men would be advancing following their artillery fire, provided a lot of cover, so to speak, but also suppressed action, enemy action. Now, it's a great plan as long as nobody advances too quickly. And there were circumstances that were that it occurred that, okay, a company started advancing before the barrage lifted. A or oh yeah, don't do that. So they had to move back. Now you talk about No Man's land. What was that like? Put it this way. Hell on Earth without the heat. Yeah. Just imagine, say, to put it into perspective, a plot of land that is probably about the size of 4 or 5, football fields. And every square meter is a hole and, mud and water and blood and wire. The thing is, what's really crazy, both, both the Canadians and the Germans, they employed a lot of barbed wire entanglements. So they would set these barbed wire entanglements, in such a, location that it would funnel troops into a position where a machine gun was in place. So, naturally, soldiers are thinking, okay, we're going to follow the path of least resistance. We're not going to go through that heavy, heavy wire. We're going to follow that trail. And there's a machine gun emplacement there. So, artillery was intended to try and disrupt enemy movement, enemy actions, as well as destroy those, artillery or the, barbed wire emplacements. Most in most cases, it worked, but it also created the the shell holes and stuff like that. And the nature of France at the time, the the ground and everything. And with all that rain, it as soon as you started doing that, it just turned it up and it just turned into mud. Completely. Soup. Yeah. Exactly. Yes. And, that's what I mentioned earlier, was that, if the men were advancing across across Norman's land and one of their chums happened to slip into that shell. Keep advancing. You're taught not to move, not to go back for. And when we think about, Private Robertson going, I guess he the term is he outflanked the German line. He did he explain what he did there? How he did it. Okay. Basically, the Germans were set up on a static line, and they had a rack of troops there that were preparing to advance over no man's land. Now the flanks are on either side of that line. But in order to secure that flank, what they did, they put in entrenched machinegun positions to prevent, the Canadians from going around that. So that's what Private Robertson was assigned to do, was to go around that flank to take out that German machine gun position, which he did. And as a result, when he turned the fire back on the Germans, well, that just kind of demoralized them in a pretty big way. And they started moving back. But then they realized, well, this is just one guy. Well, come on, let's go get him. Well, that's when the rest of the battalion started stepping up and they were able to keep keep the pressure on. You describe how the line would move behind the artillery fire, but I'm thinking the other side's got to be firing artillery to. There's, a lot of counter battery engagements. So that's where where the problems occur. And that's where the, grinding mill of World War One. That's where somehow why so many men died? Because opposing opposing artillery was huge. You know? No, you just imagine that, that they're advancing artillery while the Germans are doing the same thing somewhere long line those two lines of artillery are going to meet and be tied behind those two lines are soldiers. And that's where things really get crazy. Now, to protect the trenches. Most of the times of artillery fire would be just in front of the trench and it just line lay, massive barrage in front of the the trench to prevent anybody from getting getting past that. And again, that was just a grinding mill. You know, men got through but it was horrendous. Was there air cover at this time? We're talking November 1917. So aviation is still in its infancy. It is, it is. And a lot of the aircraft that were used were used in observation. So they would they'd be flying up there just to watch where, enemy troops are, where are the Canadian troops are. And the early infancy and again, as you say, of radio communication was instituted in World War one where they could communicate with the forces on the ground. But most of the cases you'd fly up and, an airman would fly up, look where everybody is. He'd have to fly back and report that in, now, also to armed conflict in the air began at that point, and we all think, oh, yeah, that's okay. Yeah. The Red Baron was his, Fokker triplane. And there's the Sopwith Camels in the new Portugal. Yeah. Well, not quite accurate. The, first real engagements were between observers, so it was like a, a single engine, what they call a pusher aircraft. So the engine is at the back of the plane pushing the plane ahead. You had a pilot and an observer and the observer looking with his binoculars, watching everything. And a German observer would see that's like, you know, we would all want that. And there's literally it started with pistol battles. In the air. In the air. And as you think about that, you just kind of shake your head like, how could they do that? Well, they did that. That's what they that's what they had to do. And an interesting I'm going to I hate to say it this way, but I say it all the time when I'm talking about military artifacts. I'm going to geek out for a minute here. There is an artifact, that I actually had the opportunity to, you know, examine. And it's an American military handgun that had a cage formed around the side of the handgun. See, this was a semi-automatic. So it we reject the cartridge itself. And this cage wrapped around this handgun so that the spent cartridges coming out wouldn't snap or fall into a piece of the equipment on the airplane, like damage to the fuselage, or get sucked into the engines or, or put out an eye of the pilot. So it was all kept in this little cage. But those things are about as well. They're very hard to find. They're about as, they're about as scarce as well. They're made of a material called Unobtainium. Unobtainium. I never heard of that. Yeah, they're virtually impossible to find. And, luckily, I had the they had the huge honor, my mentor in collecting in Missoula, Montana, he had one of these pieces, and it was just how they thought of that. It's just unbelievable. But, it apparently worked. But that was the genesis of air combat as engine. And we think a. Oh, yeah, a fighter plane. You're flying at 300 miles an hour. No, you're lucky if you get 80 miles an hour. You're slow motion. They're very slow. But with that also to some of the later, aircraft, they were quite maneuverable. And as time progressed, the efficiency of the aircraft also improved. So they had engines that were up to 150 horsepower, so you could get maybe 200mph. One of the problems was that fire being a machine gun through the propeller. Yes. That was a challenge. That was a challenge. But they met the challenge and they prevailed. Okay. Private Robertson dies November the 16th, 1917. After the war, he is awarded the Victoria Cross, which is one of the. I think it is the highest medal that is available in the British Empire at the time. If that is true, the Victoria Cross is the highest valor medal in the British Commonwealth, and that was instituted in 1856. By Queen Victoria. By Queen Victoria. Victoria's and all of the Victoria Crosses of the era were made by one jeweler in London. I'm trying to remember it was whole berry or something like that. And there was the rumor that there were made out of cannons, the bronze cannons used in, either the battle of Crimea, Crimea or something of that nature. That that was rumor. I don't think it's really been proven. Totally. But, the thing is, yeah, it is a very, very high valor award. Canadians, in World War one, there were not a lot of Canadians that were that were awarded that. And I've got the numbers here. It is a rare number. Yes. 73 Canadians and a world war. Many hundreds of thousands served. Exactly, exactly. Now, the thing is, the, medal was awarded posthumously to his mother, who was living here in Medicine Hat. So that's where the connection to medicine Hat really ties in. Because President Robinson was living in Medicine Hat when he died in service. And then, as Victoria Cross was given to his mother here in Medicine Hat as well, to which I believe she remained here until her death. I believe that that service was at Riverside Veterans Memorial Park before the cenotaph was put up in May of 1919. Yes, I would concur with that. Yeah. That's a that says a lot now too, when you mentioned that that Riverside Veterans Memorial Park has an amazing history, an amazing history, the cenotaph, there are some very interesting names on there. And there's all the local soldiers from Medicine Hat, from World War one, World War two, a few from Korea. They don't have any from Vietnam, though. There is a local fellow that served in Vietnam and died there, serving with the American forces. But we've also got, now Afghanistan, with Stephen Stock. We were down there to visit, the cenotaph, and we saw the names. And I was thinking, okay, 1922 when this goes up, 226. I think you're right on that. Yeah, yeah. They probably. That's it. Yeah. Sadly, there's the Second World War, as you mentioned, the Korean War, Afghanistan, Vietnam and onwards it goes. Yeah, hopefully they'll never have to add another one. Well, you know, that's the thing. And I have to agree with you on that. It it's a terrible thing that, that happens. But because of their service and, the valor that that many of them, exhibited, we can do what we're doing right now. If it wasn't for their sacrifice, we wouldn't be able to do this. So when we think back. Okay, you know? Okay. You know, Canadians died in war. Well, in World War one, there's nearly 66,000 soldiers died. In World War two, there's roughly about 45,000 troll soldiers died in Korea. There's roughly about 500. And I believe it was 16 that died. And in Vietnam, there's 134 Canadians that died in Vietnam. And then, in Afghanistan, we're up to it was around 158. Yep. Canadian served in Korea. Two. Oh, yeah. Korean. Young Korean soldiers. Yep yep yep. Yep. That's why it is important at this time of the year to always remember exactly. And that truly is the purpose of Remembrance Day is to remember the fallen, but also to honor veterans. Lest we forget. Lest we forget.