During the First World War, the Canadian soldier singlehandedly took out a German machine-gun nest at Passchendaele. He then led his unit to their objective before a shell killed him while he was trying to save a comrade.
Now, Harris is hoping his namesake great-uncle’s story will become more widely known by the rest of the country.
Britain awarded Robertson a Victoria Cross for his bravery and heroism in the muddy, blood-soaked fields of Belgium. It was one of three such decorations given to Canadians during the war that were recently obtained by the Canadian War Museum.
“If it’s just sitting in a safe-deposit box, it’s not doing anybody any good,” Harris said. “So it just seemed like it was a better place for it to be in the war museum, where hopefully other people can see it and appreciate it and learn this story.”
The other two medals were awarded to 2nd Lt. Edmund De Wind and Sgt. Thomas William Holmes, the youngest Canadian to ever win a Victoria Cross, the British Empire’s highest decoration for bravery.
With the acquisitions, the museum now has 36 of the 73 Victoria Crosses awarded to Canadians in the First World War. That includes seven of nine from Passchendaele, where 15,000 Canadians were killed or wounded during weeks of fighting.
“We can use these medals to tell the individual stories,” said Teresa Iacobelli, the museum’s First World War historian. “And because these are VCs, they are stories of exceptional gallantry and heroism under the most extraordinary circumstances.”
On Nov. 6, 1917, Robertson and his unit were part of an attack on the ridge bearing the Passchendaele name. As a cold drizzle fell, a German machine-gun ripped into the Canadians, who were unable to advance due to a wall of uncut barbed wire.
Spotting an opening in the wire to one side of the machine-gun emplacement, Robertson jumped to his feet and rushed for it before running at the Germans. In the ensuing struggle, he killed four before turning the gun on more of the enemy.
The 34-year-old from Medicine Hat, Alta., wasn’t done. Carrying the machine-gun, Robertson led his unit to its final objective, where he continued firing on the retreating Germans. A short time later, he was killed while trying to help a wounded comrade.
“He was the famous war hero of the family,” said Harris, whose mother has a replica of the Victoria Cross as well as a picture of herself at Robertson’s grave and a copy of the newspaper article announcing his exploits. “So it was a well-known story to us.”
The Victoria Cross was given to Robertson’s youngest sister, Harris’s grandmother, who passed it down to her own daughter when she died. Harris believes that was largely because his father was most interested in history.
The medal remained largely confined to a safe-deposit box until Harris’s father died near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We got it out of his safety-deposit box and we started thinking about it,” he said. “Mom remembered that she promised my grandmother that if it ever left the family, it would have to go to the Canadian War Museum.”
Born in Northern Ireland, De Wind was living and working in Canada as a banker with CIBC when the First World War broke out. After serving in a Canadian unit, he was commissioned as British officer.
While serving with the Royal Irish Rifles on March 21, 1918, he defended a position for seven hours before being killed.
Born in Montreal, Holmes was 19 years old when he earned his Victoria Cross at Passchendaele on Oct. 26, 1917, by singlehandedly knocking out three German machine-gun emplacements. He survived the war and died in Toronto in 1950.
Eric Fernberg, one of the war museum’s collections specialists, said the Robertson and De Wind medals were purchased from the two men’s families with donations and federal support. The Holmes medal was bought from an individual overseas.
While the exact prices have not been disclosed, the museum paid $420,000 at auction for a First World War Victoria Cross in 2017. Another awarded to a Canadian in the Second World War was sold to a British collector that same year for $550,000.
The Victoria Cross “has a long history, and it has resonance in terms of our collective military history,” Fernberg said. “So when opportunities present themselves or they arise (to acquire one), we do pursue them.”
The museum doesn’t have any immediate plans for displaying the three newly acquired medals, and Harris acknowledged some initial concern that his great-uncle’s decoration would end up in a storage drawer.
“But the logic still holds,” he added. “Even if they decide that they don’t have a place to display it right now, at least it’s at the war museum. Then there’s a chance that at some point, they will be getting more people (who) can be exposed to it.
“So it still seems like the right place for it to live.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2022.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.
The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.
McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.
The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.
After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.
He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.
Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.
The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.
San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.
BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.
Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.
Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.
Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.
Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.
Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.
Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
