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By Lucas Hannah Chapter 1: Basic Information Name: Victor William Robinson Serial Number: 25377 Rank: Sergeant Regiment: 1st BN. Auckland Regiment, NZEF Chapter 2: Personal Family Background Victor William Robinsons last known address was in the village of Tiahoa, Matamata. He was born to Joseph Robinson in 1891 in Pukekohe, South Auckland and attended Sacred Heart College (which was situated in Ponsonby, Auckland at the time). Most likely a boarder at the school due to his distance from home, he was a well-known athlete and a champion swimmer. After school him then moved to Matamata and became a farmer like his father. He was described as a tall man (6fft 8inches) and weighed 170lbs with a fair complexion with blue eyes and brown hair. He won the British war medal and the Victory medal for his bravery during WW1. Chapter 3: Education Victor attended Sacred Heart College from1905-1909 most likely as a boarder. At this time SHC was 6 years into its great timeline. The college was opened in 1903 in Ponsonby, by the Marist Brothers. It is the oldest continuously existing Catholic boys' secondary school in Auckland although it has changed its location, moving to its current Glen Innes site in 1955. The Marist Brothers continue to be a presence in the school community, with both teaching and maintenance of school grounds undertaken in part by the Brothers. Victors War records record his highest level of education as at the 4th educational standard. SHC 1909 Chapter 4: Work after college After Victor left school he returned to Tiahoa, Matamata to work with his father as a farmer. This was for the period from leaving school in 1909 , to enlisting in1916. It was his dads ‘farm and his dad employed him. Matamata was well known at the time for its dairy and produce farming. Matamata early 20th century Matamata approx. 1950 Chapter 5: Enlistment in army Victor enlisted in the army at the age of 22 on the 8 of Fbruary1916 at Featherston near Wellington. He enlisted in the 1st Auckland Battalion which formed part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces (NZEF). This consisted of one infantry battalion from each of 4 provinces; Otago, Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland. On the 20th August 1916 he embarked in a convoy on Destination: Devonport, England. the HMNZT 63 transport ship‘Navua’. Their destination: Devonport, England. They stayed in England for about 4 months than got sent to Egypt for more training. After than it was to the western front, than the Somme, and finally for Victor, Messines. HMNZT 63 Mavua Chapter 6: Date and Place of death Victor died on the 25 June 1917 in a prison camp in Limburg, An Dher Lhan. He got wounded in the battle of Messines, Belgium and was not treated soon enough or properly to survive. Limburg An Dher Lhan Victors Grave Chapter 7: War records Victor’s Casualty Report Letter to Joseph Robinson History Sheet (Father) Letter Home Military forms Statement of services Description of Victor Medical history of Victor Attestation of victor Embarkment details Statement of Services Chapter 8: Battle and Circumstances of his death Victor joined the1st Infantry Brigade, which consisted of the1st Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago Battalions. The major battles his regiment fought in WW1 are as follows: Armentieres Destined for the Western Front, Victor’s Division reached Marseilles in April 1916 and entered the line in May, south-east of Armentieres. The land was low lying and soggy, and trenches shallow, but living conditions were far better than at Anzac, except for the heavy artillery. It was a “quiet sector”, but trench warfare was already highly developed and there was much to learn. The Division, under I Anzac Corps (Birdwood) and then II Anzac Corps (Godley), staged 11 major raids (against four German ones) in three months and countless patrols on its 8-mile front and when relieved in mid-August had lost 2,500 men, nearly 400 of them dead. The Somme In September the Division was committed to the gigantic offensive on the Somme which had begun on 1 July. The 2nd Brigade attacked at dawn on the 15th on a 1,000-yard front behind a formidable artillery barrage to seize two trenches on the way to Flers. The Rifle Brigade passed through with two tanks and helped to capture the village. The 1st Wellington went on next day to gain a trench north of Flers. Then rain set in. Fierce night fighting with bomb and bayonet by the 2nd Canterbury followed on the 20th, a short but economical advance by the 1st Brigade on the 25th, and a partially successful one on the 27th in which the 1st Otago battalion suffered grievous loss. On 3–4 October the Division withdrew from the muddy horrors of the Somme. It had lost in 23 days some 7,000 men, 1,560 of them killed. Winter on the Lys Winter of 1916–17 passed coldly but quietly at Fleurbaix, near Armentieres, where the 1st Brigade was reorganized to include all North Island battalions. There also the 2nd Auckland battalion on 21 February staged with mixed success the heaviest New Zealand raid of the campaign. Next day the Division sidestepped to the left and then left again a few days later, settling for three months between Ploegsteert and Wulverghem facing the strongly fortified Messines ridge. Messines At 3.10 a.m. on 7 June 2017 nearly 500 tons of explosives in huge mines on both sides of the New Zealand sector blew up. The earth was still trembling when the 2nd and 3rd Brigades scrambled over the top, in and out of shell holes, and up the battered slopes. Carrying the German front line and supports, they were soon into the ruined village. The 1st Brigade passed through, helped on the left by a solitary tank, to the final objective. With prisoners and booty including many guns it was a striking success at no great cost; but the German artillery revived and by the time the Division was relieved on 9 and 10 June it had lost 3,700 men, evenly distributed between the three brigades. Despite this the Division gained further success and worked hard to consolidate before handing over to the Australians at the end of the month. In two more attacks in this area on 27 and 31 July the Division finally gained and held La Basse Ville. Heavy artillery fire in the first fortnight of August caused the loss of nearly 1,000 men and rain made conditions miserable. Victors regiment was fighting at Messiness in Belgium at the time, when he was reported missing. No evidence showed at the time, if he was killed wounded or taken prisoner. A court of enquiry later labeled him as missing officially on 6 August 1917. However, it wasn’t until the 4th October 1917 that his death was confirmed after soldiers sent to this village found his name listed of all the people that had died in the prison - cause of death likely to have been battle wounds. Victor died being held as a prisoner of war in the small village of Limburg, An Dher Lhan, on the 25 June 1917. Chapter 9: Info The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight for Britain during World War I. Upon the outbreak of war, New Zealand immediately offered to provide two brigades—one of infantry and one of mounted troops—with a total of 8,500 men. This contingent sailed for Australia within two months of the start of the war and then joined with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in a convoy sailing for Egypt. The NZEF was commanded throughout the war by General Alexander Godley, a British officer who in 1910, on the recommendation of Lord Kitchener, had been appointed as the commander of the New Zealand Military Forces. After Godley departed with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in October 1914, Major General Alfred William Robin commanded the New Zealand Military Forces at home throughout the war as commandant, and was pivotal in ensuring the ongoing provision of reinforcements and support to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. New Zealand, like Australia, had a pre-war policy of compulsory military training, but the NZEF was initially reinforced by volunteers only. Conscription was introduced on 1 August 1916 and by the end of the war 124,000 men—nearly half the eligible male population of 250,000—had served with the NZEF. Of these, about 100,000 had been sent overseas. The NZEF was closely tied to the AIF for much of the war. When the Gallipoli campaign began, the New Zealand contingent was insufficient to complete a division of their own, so it was combined with the Australian 4th Infantry Brigade to form the New Zealand and Australian Division under the command of General Godley. This division, along with the Australian 1st Division, formed the famous Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) under the command of General William Birdwood. After the end of the Gallipoli campaign, the NZEF formed its own infantry division, the New Zealand Division, which served on the Western Front for the rest of the war. General Godley was promoted to a corps command and given II ANZAC Corps, which contained the New Zealand Division. From 1916 until the formation of the Australian Corps in 1918 (made up of the five Australian divisions) there were always two "ANZAC" corps—I ANZAC Corps and II ANZAC Corps—despite the fact that there was only one New Zealand Division to go around.
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