Good evening, I wonder if anyone is able to help me. I am trying to find a photo and some more detail in regards to my great grandfather’s death for my nan. I have the below details which may help: Full Name: William Gibson Robertson Born: 29th July 1912 in Bo’ness Married: Mary Simpson on the 28th October 1935 Died: 4th September 1940 Casualty Rank: Gunner Service Number: 815161 Regiment: Royal artillery Battalion: 24 field regiment His name is listed at the Brookwood cemetery in Surrey Any help would be appreciated
24th Field Regiment were with 48th (South Midland) Division with the BEF in France and appear to have remained with them until 1942. They were in the UK during September 1940. This may mean that he died of wounds incurred in France or the death could be unrelated. The Brookwood Memorial covers all those with no recorded grave who are not commemorated on another memorial...You may have noticed from the forum thread relating to it that even today, graves are still being traced in UK churchyards and cemeteries and the Memorial is then subsequently amended. The basis for inclusion was that if no return was received for a serviceman noting where he was commemorated, then Brookwood applied. On the assumption that he died in the UK then applying for a copy death certificate would probably be the first course of action. His service records (which will take longer to arrive) may or may not detail cause of death.
Thank you, I have a copy of his death form but the reason is blank. We have found a few other documents which state they believe he may of drowned but no reports confirm this was definitely the case Do you know where we would be able to apply for the death certificate?
Forum Member Chrisharley9 has recently started checking names on the Brookwood Memorial, with a lot of success. I'll send a PM to him to check if W. Robertson's name has been found in official burial records. ROBERTSON, WILLIAM Gunner Service Number 815161 Died 04/09/1940 Aged 23 24 Field Regt. Royal Artillery Son of Joseph and Barbara Robertson; husband of Mary Robertson, of Bo'ness, West Lothian. Commemorated at BROOKWOOD 1939-1945 MEMORIAL Location: Surrey, United Kingdom Number of casualties: 3400 Cemetery/memorial reference: Panel 3. Column 3.
That casualty list gives him as "missing, believed drowned" with the date of 4.9.40; just to narrow things down, the only naval loss on that day was the tug HMS Saucy which hit a mine in the Firth of Forth. He isn't listed among the 28 casualties (all hands), as far as I can see. I appreciate this isn't a great deal of help, but in the absence of anything more positive... Cheers, Pat
His death isn't recorded in the service returns in the Death records on Scotlandspeople. gov.uk. If the Registrar had been informed, it would appear in the Minor Records. Try the FreeBMD site to see if death was recorded in England.
Information provided from ChrisHarley9. And I quote:- "Died in Sheffield by the looks of things - If returned to Falkirk for burial the local council are highly obstructive in providing burial registers."
Thank you! Do you know where we can get more information or where it suggests he died in Sheffield please?
Hi Chels, William Gibson Robertson was a DEMS gunner on a merchant ship and his service records show that he drowned at sea as a result of enemy action. He may have been on board a ship with Convoy FS 271, we are still looking into that. He is commemorated on the Bo'ness War Memorial. Please get in contact for further info. We are looking for a photo of William for a forthcoming project. All the best, Gow67