DEATH OF PRIVATE T.J.B. ROBB

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 13 July 1915, Page 6

DEATH OF PRIVATE T.J.B. ROBB

' WOUNDED AT THE DARDANELLES Mr. T. Robb, of Hampden-sfcreet West, Nelson, received a. telegram from. the Defence Minister to-day stating - that his son, Private T. J. B. Robb, Iliad died on the 7th July of wounds received at the Dardaueiles on June 6th. Word, came on 16th June that Private [Robb was dangerously ill, but no other information reached liis people till today. . . Private Robb was an engineer by profession, and would have been 26 years of ace next Sunday. He was born m Invercargill, and spent his boyhood at Foxhiil, his father ueing engaged on the local railway line. He served his apprenticeship at the Anchor Foundry, and had successfully sat for the marine second engineer's certificate. He had served on various steamers, and left the ■ ill-fated Kiraki a sJio.it time before she foundered. Foi a time he was• en- ■ -ra.n.d in the Uii.on CVi.'s yards at Wel-U-i° ton as a fitter. After working for a timo at Rani;itu!i, in tbi' North Island, he ciimo home, and was in Nelson when the war broke out. He enlisted as a stretcher bearer, as he had considerable knowledge in this branch of the service havhi.r been for several years a sergeant in the Nelson Bearer Corps. Private. Robb wa*. a prominent Rechabite, and was a Past Cniei Ruler of the Bud of Promise Tent. Nelson. He was also an Orangeman, being attached to _ the Wellington Orange Lodge. ' Mr. and' Mrs. Robb have thus lost their onlv ohild in the war. To them will be extended the sympathy of all in the specially sad circumstances surrounding their bereavement.

A STRETCHER BEARER'S WORK. Private -T. Robb, who is a stretcherbearer in Colonel-Surgeon Pearless's section, writing to his parents in Nelson on May 13th, before he was reported as dangerously wounded,- says:—'After several davs of preparation we are now in the thick of battle,' and it is most risky for us to go cut and collect the wounded while- it is daylight, so we go out and collect them at- night-tune, and then bring them on the stretchers to the dressing "sheds. Yesterday (May 12th) and to-day we have been having aspell, and it is'a treat to be able to | move about without being sniped at continuously. Now. to our relief, we are clear of* rifle bullets, but by no means out of the deadly shell-fire. Our colonel, Dr. Pearless, was wounded, but, I am glad to say, not seriously. I was down a cliff when he got hit, and did not s=e it happen, although I was only a few ' yards away. Our chaplain' was also wounded whilst he was out with ree with a stretcher, but only slightly. Only one of our stretcher-bearers has yet had to go to the hospital. He was hit in the shoulder by a shot -from a sniper. That is what he got for going out trying to attend the wounded before it was dark. The Sunday we landed they drew blood from me in the evening, while I was cairying a stretcher to (tie of the boats. A shell just grazed me on the light thumb and then on the left one,- and, continuing on, hit the ground heavily, and then "rebounded and hit me on the leg. Still it dijnot explode. This is only one of—the many hair-breadth escapes that occur every day. 1 did net have my thumbs bandaged, as the wounds "were only slight flesh ones. George Peterson is quite well, and mostcf the other Nelson boys are still seeing it "through."'

Shortly after Mr Robb received.the telegram announcing his son's death, a letter came to hand from the firing line, dated May 22nd. In this Private/ Robb savs : —"The Turks made a desperate attack on the. Australians a few nights ago. They had been heavily reinforced, and came on in battalions in mass formation. The Australians opened on them when they got to within a few yards of the trenches and just mowed them down with machine guns. The chapa say that there are about eight acres in 'front of the lines just piled up with dead Turks. As each battalion canie oii over the dead they in' turn were mowed down.- The Turks were under a big German genefl'al. - . We again had a visit- from a Turkish aeroplane this morning, -but she kept up a good height, and out of range. (Later.) The Turks' aircraft is . having another look at us, but we don't trouble about their aircraft. Fred Milroy is here with us, but not with-the Nelson .boys." - When writinrr Private Robb was in tlie best of and was even then contemplating/the good things he would enjoy when he came home.