Three generations honour Victoria Cross recipient and World War One veteran

A World War One veteran from South Shields was honoured in Edinburgh after his Victoria Cross was put on display to keep his memory alive.

Private Henry H. Robson, originally from the borough, won the award for an act of “most conspicuous bravery” in December 1914, aged 20, whilst serving with the Royal Scots Regiment in Flanders.

Pte Robson was a regular soldier in the 2nd Battalion which had deployed to Belgium in August 1914 as part of the British Expeditionary Force that was sent to prevent the German advance. The Battalion took part in a number of significant actions as the war ebbed and flowed that autumn before an attack near Kemmel on 14 December.

Badly wounded during the action for which he received the award, Pte Robson survived the war and emigrated to Canada where he settled and raised a family.

And last month the Royal Scots Regimental Museum in Edinburgh Castle welcomed Pte Robson’s grandson, Brian Gaskin, and his family from Ontario, Canada.

For Brian, his family’s trip to Scotland has a deeper resonance. As a fourteen-year-old boy in 1965, Brian had been present at the ceremony when, after Pte Robson had passed away, his family had presented his Victoria Cross to the Royal Scots Museum. Mr Gaskin has now returned with his wife, Jane, his son Kevin and grandson Luke to “visit the museum and medals and keep the history alive”.

Lt Colonel Gordon Rae, Chairman of The Royal Scots’ Museum and Heritage Committee, presented the Gaskin family with a copy of “Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard”, the Regiment’s three volume history, as a memento of their visit showing the bond between the Regiment and the family.

Lt Colonel Gordon Rae said: “It was a great honour to host three generations of Private Robson’s family at the Regimental Museum today.”