John Edward Robson 1892 - 1984 Gateshead UK

[chrisrob200]

Hi Everyone

John is my Grandfather and his WW1 military service records are unable to be found. I did find a J E R WW1 record on Ancestry but this fellow is only 5'5" whereas my John is more like 6"5".

I do have a postcard photo of him from WW1 but it is not in particularly good condition. It has him in his military uniform and from the goggles in the photo perhaps he was a Driver of some sort.

I am hoping that any enhancement of the photo may reveal more information on his uniform that can assist me.

Many thanks for looking at this.

Regards

Chris

[jim1]

Can you re-scan this at about 300dpi. You are allowed up to 500Kb. filesize on here & this is only 75.
It gets very pixelated close up.
Impossible to say who he was with as his goggles are covering his cap badge.
Typically they were worn by dispatch riders & before the formation of the Signals Corps various branches of the Army had them.
However my understanding is that a dispatch rider had the minimum rank of Cpl. whereas this chap is a Pte.
How do you know he was 6'5" ?
This chap doesn't look that tall even seated.

[chrisrob200]

Hi

Thanks for the response & for taking the time to look at this.

I have re scanned the postcard at 300dpi - tried 400 but it was then too big

John was a big man, the postcard doesn't do him justice. I am his grandson and 6'1" tall & he towered over me. Not sure on 6"5" but noticeably over 6'1".

John had a fearsome reputation around Gateshead for his stature & ability take care of things physically if required. He had hands like a sledgehammer. When I knew him he would have weighed around 18-20 stone and looked pretty fit.

The postcard is dated on the reverse France July 4th 1915.

Thanks again

Regards

Chris

[jim1]

As you know there are more John Robsons than you can shake a stick at.
I was drawn to this chap:
John E Robson:
Spr. 1392 Royal Engineers (T). Later 459254.
Theatre of war France, entry date 18/4/15.
So this chap was there July 1915.
(T)=Territorial. They were re-numbered with 6 digit numbers in 1917 hence the change.
As I said earlier the RE had their own despatch riders & the images show they weren't all NCO's.
The 1918 Absent Voter's List for where he was living might indicate who he was with but you'd need to find out where it is.
There is a medical record for this chap (but no height reference). Gives a DOB of 1892 & address (1919) of 12 Lodge Terrace Wallsend-on-Tyne. He had the middle name of Edward.
He states he was working for a ship building Co. pre war as a blacksmith.

[chrisrob200]

Hi and thanks again for looking at this.

I have seen that particular JER and unfortunately its not him.

Regards

Chris

[Trishanne]

One from me
Pat

[McGroger]

My try.
Peter

[chrisrob200]

Thank you both for the restorations.

Very good.

Regards

Chris