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Pte. Thomas W. Robinson
British Army 11th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment
from:Eccleston, Chorley
(d.1st July 1916 )
Tom William Robinson was from Eccleston near Chorley in Lancashire. Before joining the 11th East Lancashire Regiment as a "Chorley Pal" he worked as a weaver at Carrington & Dewhurst's Mill in the village.
On 1st July, 1916 Tom, along with the other members of "Y" Company, Chorley Pals, 11th East Lancs Regt went over the top from Campion & Monk trenches to attack the German defences on the outskirts of the French village of Serre. The German defenders alerted by the previous waves of the British advance by "W" Company (Accrington Pals) and "X" Company ( Accrington & District) laid down heavy and accurate machine-gun and rifle fire rifle onto "Y" Company as soon as they went over the top. Tom barely reached more than 20-30 yds before he suffered a direct hit from a German shell. Pte.15841 Richard "Dickie" Barrow, saw Tom get "blown to bits by a shell" and said there was "nothing left of Tom to find". In the same advance Pte Barrow was seriously wounded after being hit in his head by German fire. Although badly wounded Pte Barrow managed to crawl back to the British lines from no-mans land. Tom is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Thiepval, Northern France. Tom Robinson was my grandfather's elder brother.
