My Family Tree

Robertson was born on 1894-04-13 (or possibly April 17), the son of Johnston Mann and Elizabeth McFadyen.

Being born so close to the birthday of Elizabeth McFadyen's youngest brother Robertson, he was probably named for his uncle. His father died when he was seven years old. In the 1911 census he gave his occupation as farmer.

In 1917, he enlisted as a private in the infantry possibly because of conscription brought in by the government - and was assigned to the Nova Scotia Regiment (85th Battalion). On his enlistment form, he was described as having dark hair and grey eyes and being 5 ft 9 in in height. He traveled to England for basic training, and was soon admitted to an isolation hospital with a suspected case of chicken-pox. It says something about the conditions on board ship, or in the camp, that this turned out to be a case of scabies. After being cured and discharged from the hospital, he was shipped to France, where he joined the 21st Battalion, which was in dire need of reinforcements. Over the next two months, the 21st was in rotation at the front lines, experiencing shelling, overhead air attacks, machine-gun fire and the occasional release of gas almost on a daily basis, according to their War Diary. New recruits were not very fortunate by this point of the war, receiving very little training and, according to stories, being shunned by more experienced soldiers.

On October 8 1918, the battalion was ordered to attack and establish a position at the Canal de l'Escaut.
From the National Library and Archives website (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/firstworldwar/025005-1600-e.html):
"Canal-du-Nord and Cambrai, September 27-October 11, 1918

"When the attack was launched, the Brigade was already tired after holding the line for several days… harassed by enemy fire, gas, and aeroplane bombing. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the spirit of all ranks ensured success. But for this spirit, the success which ultimately attended our efforts would have been impossible."

Major J.A.G. White, M.-G. A/Brigade-Major, October 1918, Headquarters, 6th Canadian Infantry Brigade. RG 9, series III-D-3, vol. 4891, folio 1709."

Three days later, the battalion commander noted that they had suffered 50% casualties during the first hour of battle. Robertson was wounded around this time, and was sent back to a hospital in England - shrapnel in his left leg had left a large gutter wound that was not healing properly. He finished his service in England, and was discharged in February 1919.

For his service, Robertson was paid $1.00 a day with an additional 0.10 for every day in the field.

When he returned from the war, he bought a small farm near Kensington, where he lived with his mother and a nephew John.
In 1932, Robertson, along with 19 others, formed the Kensington (Prince Edward Island # 9) Branch of the Legion.
He never married. He died in 1961 at the age of 66.