Son of Christina Robertson, of 30, High St., Jedburgh, Scotland, and the late William Beaufort Robertson.
Source: Referred to this soldier by the Hawick and the Great War 1914 – 18 site. Thanks to Derek Robinson for directing to this member of the 18th Battalion C.E.F..
A tribute to Private Robinson was place in the Southwestern Ontario Memorial Album “From his Loving Friend, Miss McKeown.” with the following poem:
Our thoughts often wander to a sad but honored grave,
Your name is often spoken by the friend you tried to save,
For our hearts are all united with the same fond love of you,
And loving thoughts are cherished for one so brave and true,
Oh, the bitterness of knowing he will ne’er come home again,
Nothing else can ever matter, life can never be the same,
When we said good-bye parted, he emplored me to be brave,
But I wish we could only lay some flowers on his grave.
We may never know who Miss McKeown was but she felt so tenderly she made sure that James Robertson was remembered in the Southwestern Ontario Memorial book. I suspect the poem was written by her as I cannot find any reference to it and if it was an original poem its sentiment to the loved and lost is compelling.
Below is the image of Private Jame Robertson from the memorial book.
War Diary of the 18th Battalion CEF 
Leave a Reply