ROBBINS Charlie John

Charles John Robbins was born in Upper Quinton on 13th October 1878, the son of Charles and Mary Robbins. By 1901 he was living and working on a farm in Salford Priors. In June 1904 he married Susan Young from Atch Lench. In 1911 he was living and working in Stoulton Nr. Worcester. With the outbreak of war in 1914 he enlisted at Evesham in the Worcestershire Regiment and on 22nd March 1915 he embarked with 4th Battalion at Avonmouth bound for the Middle East.

Turkey had entered the war on the side of Germany in October 1914. The British government decided to land a force at Gallipoli which would then advance to capture Constantinople (Istanbul) with the twin aims of knocking Turkey out of the war and securing a supply route to Russia.

The ships arrived in Alexandria on 4th April, Easter Sunday. Moving on they arrived at Gallipoli on the evening of 24th April where they were immediately involved in heavy fighting. Charles Robbins’ medal card shows that he first went ashore on 21st May. What became known as the third battle of Krithia began on June 4th with the battalion again involved in heavy fighting. At some point over the next few days he was seriously wounded and was evacuated to Malta where he died of wounds on 16th June 1915. He is buried in Pieta Military Cemetery a short distance from the capital Valletta. Charles Robbins was aged 37 and left a widow and five children. The campaign to capture Constantinople was a complete failure and the force was evacuated in January 1916.