Donald Buchanan Urquhart Robertson

Donald Robertson's father Charles Buchanan Urquhart Robertson was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1884. Charles' father, who was also named Charles, was a carpenter. Charles Jr became a plater in Glasgow's shipbuilding yards. He married Sarah Duff on December 31, 1913 and Donald was born in Glasgow on June 8, 1915. His brother Charles Arthur followed in 1917.

Grandfather Charles had emigrated to Toronto with a daughter and possibly other children before the First World War began and was living in the Cedarvale neighbourhood. In 1919 he was settled at what was 192 Lumsden near Woodbine and was working as a carpenter. By 1922, Donald's family had moved to Toronto and lived with grandfather Charles on Lumsden.

After having the two boys, Charles and Sarah had three daughters: Elizabeth, Margaret and Elsie. By 1926, the family moved into a house that was at 1369 Woodbine Avenue, just north of Cosburn. Charles was working as a labourer but experienced several years of unemployment, especially during the Depression. Donald was in Danforth Park's class of 1929 and he claimed on his army application that he went to tech school for one year. That was probably at East York High School. He left to become a stone mason, working for WJ Yearly who was located at the corner of Savoy and Woodbine, a few doors from the Robertsons' home. Donald liked to play hockey and baseball and enjoyed sketching in his spare time. By the time he enlisted in 1941, he had a tattoo on his right forearm of the word “Mother.”

In June 1936, Donald had a run-in with the police. He allegedly stole the keys to a basement locker in a Forest Hill home. When he returned to the basement, the maid made a noise and frightened him away. Twenty minutes later the police picked him up on the same street, carrying a cigarette lighter, a purse with $9 and a loaded revolver which he had allegedly stolen the day before from another house in the neighbourhood. There is no record of whether Donald was convicted of the burglaries. When he enlisted in the army on August 6, 1941, there was no mention of any transgressions.

Experienced tradesmen were needed for ship building and Donald's father moved to St. John, New Brunswick to be a ship's plater once again. The rest of Donald's family remained in Toronto, although his brother Charles also enlisted in the army.

Donald joined the Royal Canadian Engineers as a stone mason in the 8th Field Squadron and was sent to Petawawa for his basic training. As a stone mason, his main job would have been constructing and maintaining defences and fortifications. Like all the engineers, he was also trained to fight as infantry when necessary. Donald's girlfriend at the time appears to have been Margaret Tomelow. On October 15, he was granted permission to marry her, but the wedding never took place. Donald had New Year's leave from December 28 until January 4, 1942 and probably spent it in Toronto. He was soon transferred to the army base in Debert, Nova Scotia and at the end of May was given two weeks' embarkation leave to visit his family before sailing to Britain on June 1.

Once in England, his squadron was part of the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division and two years of training began. The Engineers learned mine sweeping and defusing, mine laying, booby traps, how to place demolition charges, how to build bridges quickly, road building – anything to facilitate the infrastructure needed for the army to keep moving in battle. Intramural sports helped to keep up morale and every regiment at least had a boxing team, a baseball team and a hockey team. Donald played on the regiment's hockey team, which won the Lewis Trophy.

In January 1943, Donald was granted permission to marry Rosemary Winnifred Sallis. Donald claimed on the application that he had known Rosemary since 1938, when he was working at a steel mill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He probably fabricated this story to ensure that he would receive permission, because Rosemary was pregnant. The wedding took place on March 16, 1943 and they had a week's honeymoon. Rosemary continued to live with her family in North Stoke, Oxfordshire. On June 26, their son Charles Arthur was born, but he wasn't a strong baby and passed away on July 22. Donald continued to live on the base and was given a week's privilege leave every two months.

The regiment was mainly stationed in the south of England, about 25 kilometres inland from Brighton but exercises were carried out as far north as the Lake District. Training intensified in the spring of 1944, but the regiment wasn't part of D-Day on June 6. On June 22, Donald transferred to #3 Troop in the regiment.

Royal Canadian Engineer sweeping for mines, Vaucelles, France, 1944. Photo: Library and Archives Canada.

The regiment arrived in France on July 23, 1944, almost seven weeks after D-Day, with 7 officers and 255 men. While the regiment awaited deployment, classes in mine warfare were given. On July 30, they left the Normandy coast and arrived in the Caen area at 2100 hrs. The next day was spent digging dugouts. The Caen area had seen a lot of battle two weeks earlier and repairs to the area were necessary for easy Allied access. On August 1, road construction, maintenance and oiling in the vicinity south of Caen was carried out. They were still working at it on the 3rd, with enemy mortar fire nearby.

Royal Canadian Engineers clearing roads in France, August 4, 1944. Photo: Library and Archives Canada.

On August 7 the regiment was readied for the impending advance down the Caen–Falaise road. The Germans were surrounded on three sides at Falaise (35 kilometres south of Caen) and the Allies were determined to cut them off on the fourth side. The RAF bombed the enemy for two hours and the regiment was issued cotton wool to deaden the sound. On August 8, they advanced during the night and stopped at 0500 hrs near the village of Vaucelles. They were bombed by aircraft but they weren't sure if the planes were American or German. Fortunately there were no major casualties and that night they cleared the main road of debris and craters. On the 9th, Donald's troop had a day of rest after checking an area for mines. Fortunately none were found. They did road work later in the day and the next, signposting and re-checking the area for mines In the evening, the regiment moved to Gaumesnil, a little over 20 kilometres north of Falaise, and bombs were aimed at them. The road work continued for several days.

On August 14, Donald's troop was attached to the 4th Canadian Armoured Battalion and were travelling behind them to improve and maintain stream crossings. The advance was to cross the stream between Rouvres and Maiziers to cut the German escape route from Falaise. The crossings were successful but Donald was shot and killed near the village of Rouffigny, south of Falaise. He was buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize cemetery, the resting place of Danforth Park alumni George Ford, Eric Garbutt, John Tanner and William Lister.

Donald's grave, Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery. Photo: Shirley Tort, www.findagrave.com.

Rosemary was expecting another child in February 1945. Donald's father Charles passed away in the early 1950s and Sarah lived at 1369 Woodbine until the mid-1960s.