Col. "Robbie" N.A. Robinson

ROBINSON, NEVILLE ARTHUR (ROBBIE) COLONEL, C.D. ADC. The Parachute Regiment 1941-1951, and Queens Own Rifles of Canada 1952-1982. Born in Hornchurch, England in 1924, son of Dr. Harold S and Vera E Robinson. He joined the Kings Royal Rifle Corps in 1941 at 17 years of age and volunteered for the formation of the Parachute Regiment in 1942, joining the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Brigade. First war action was sinking, as his troop ship, The Strathallan, was torpedoed during the invasion of North Africa. First armed action was the jump on Oudna, a German air field near Tunis, deep behind the lines. Surrounded, and unable to be relieved or resupplied, the Paras refused the German offer of surrender and fought their way 55 miles back through enemy held territory, under constant attack by German forces from both ground and air. The battalion lost about half it’s numbers during the withdrawal. He remained on the front lines through out the advance into Tunisia, engaging in numerous battles and skirmishes, and was wounded in the forearm by a mortar bomb in the Battle of Tamera while tending a Bren gun in a rear guard action while under German assault. In the final four months of battles for Tunisia, his battalion suffered 80% casualties. By the end of the North Africa campaign, they had earned an epithet from the Germans: the ‘Red Devils’. In the invasion of Sicily, he jumped with the Brigade on Primosole Bridge. However only 295 Paras from the 1856 strong Brigade were able to assemble on the objective, about the strength of a single company. Nevertheless they prevented the bridge from being destroyed. Over the next 48 hours of continual attack and counter attack before 8th Army reinforcements arrived, they stood off an elite heavily armed German paratroop regiment with artillery support that outnumbered them more than 4 to 1. Over half were killed, wounded, or captured, and he was wounded again, taking a bullet through the hand while throwing a grenade at a bunker. In Italy he landed at Taranto following the Italian surrender, and moved with the battalion north, being delayed only by showers of fruit, flowers, and flagons of wine from the jubilant Italians and some accidental fire from the Canadians. He went back to England for officer training, and participated in Operation Fortitude North, the D-Day deception for an invasion of Norway. He rejoined the Regiment as a Lieutenant with the 3rd Para Battalion in India, training and preparing for a jump to recapture Singapore. Whilst there he contracted Typhus and nearly died, spending several months in hospital. Post war he served in Egypt, and then in Palestine fighting terrorists and peace keeping. In 1947 he was promoted to Captain and sent to Greece to liaise with the Royalist forces during the Greek Civil war, and then in 1948 to France to assist with allied troops unable to return to their home nations now behind the iron curtain. He finished his service with the British Army in England in 1951 as a Major (Acting), commanding a company in the 10th Para Battalion. In 1952 he transferred to the Canadian Army, first serving as a Lieutenant with the Royal Canadian School of Infantry, and then in 1954, having been promoted to Captain, as 2nd In Command (2IC) D Company (Coy) for 2nd Battalion (2) Queens Own Rifles of Canada (QOR of C), where he served in Korea before being transferred to HQ of the Commonwealth Division responsible for a South Korean Army battalion. On return to Canada in 1956 he served as 2IC C Coy 1 QOR of C, and then attended Staff College in 1958. Promoted to Major he rejoined 2 QOR of C, serving as 2IC and with the HQ of the Canadian Contingent of the UN Forces in Cyprus in 1965. In 1966 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and took over as Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion of the Queens Own Rifles of Canada, returning with the Battalion to Cyprus for another 6 month tour in 1967. He was CO when the Battalion was stood down in 1968 due to government cutbacks. Under his leadership as CO the battalion won numerous awards, and many of his officers went on to distinguished careers, four of them becoming Generals. In 1968 he transferred to NATO HQ in Brussels, where he was responsible for receiving and disseminating intelligence regarding the location of Soviet mobile nuclear missiles, and the subsequent re-targeting of the Allied missiles in response. He returned to Canada in 1972, accepting a posting to HQ Vancouver District and then in 1975 to HQ Military Area Pacific. In 1978 he was promoted to Colonel, and served as Commander Vancouver District. He retired in 1982 after 41 years of Army service. On retirement he held the following medals: The 1939-1945 Star, The Africa Star with 1st Army Clasp, The Sicily / Italy Star, The Defence of Britain Medal, The Victory Medal, The Palestine Medal, The Canadian Special Service Medal with two Clasps, The Peacekeeping Medal, The Cyprus Medal with Clasp, The Canadian Centennial Medal, The Queens Silver Jubilee Medal, and The Canadian Decoration with two Clasps. He was appointed Honorary Aide-De-Camp to the Governor General of Canada in 1980. He was Past President of the Royal United Services Institute, a past Commissioner of the Delta Police Board, a past member of the Delta Citizens Advisory Board, a member of and past Director of the Beach Grove Golf Club, a member of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Association, The Parachute Regiment Association, The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Association, the 2nd Para (1940-45) Club, The National Defence Committee of the Federation of Military Institutes. He was a past member of the Board of Governors of the Outward Bound School, a member of the Dominion Institute Memory Project and member of the Health Administrators Association of BC, having served as the Administrator of the Canadian Red Cross for BC and the Yukon. He is survived by Brenda, the love of his life, whom he married in 1952, his son Michael, his daughter Lindie, his grandson Milo, his grandson Jaz, his brother Dr. Derek Robinson and family, his daughter-in-law Alison and his son-in-law Mark. His grandson Jaz has autism, and in his final years Robbie was extremely devoted to him. In lieu of flowers any donations in his memory to www.autismsupportdogs.org would be appreciated. Celebration of Life to be held November 9th, at 2:00pm, at Beach Grove Golf Club. Many thanks to the kind and excellent care at Delta Hospice and to Wayne Dehnke for representing the army so both Robbie’s families could be present at the end. “The silver bugles call high and clear”

An excellent article on Robbie by Pete McMartin that appeared in the Vancouver Sun for Remembrance Day 2010 can be found here: http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/columnists/story.html?id=2f33c8e6-fd4d-4be7-bf21-7ae307040050