ROBERTSON, PTE ANGUS - Regimental #: 466938
Angus MacBean Robertson was born June 4, 1890 in Dunchurch, the son of William and Eliza (Macbean) Robertson. He and his brother Roy were in the west when war was declared.
Angus Robertson
Angus enlisted on July 19, 1915
Angus sailed March 23, 1916 from St. John on the S.S. Metagama with the 63rd Battalion (in discharge papers identified as Saskatchewan, Regt., Depot.)
At left, Angus Robertson
In June 1915 Angus was transferred to the 5th Battalion in the Field (France). He saw active service in France and Belgium (10 months) but after being wounded at Vimy Ridge was invalided to Canada on October 17, 1917 because of poor health. He was discharged Feb. 2, 1918.
It was while Angus was in the 5th Battallion, 2nd ‘Cor’ that he was injured at Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917 on the first day of the main assault. This included a ‘slight’ gunshot wound to his left foot. This injury was not sufficient for him to be removed from active service.
However, while he was in hospital from the gunshot wound he noted shortness of breath and chest pains. He was identified as suffering from Tachycardia (heart beat over 100 beats per minute) and Valvular Disease of the Heart (VDH) which was the cause of Angus being medically unfit for further service.
Below, the medical record for Angus Robertson:
As noted, Angus was assigned to the 5th Battalion. The Battalion had entered the theatre of operations in France on 14 February 1915, where it fought as part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division in France. The battalion fought in the attack on Vimy Ridge with 14 officers and 350 other ranks killed or wounded.
Lynn Abbot Lenox notes that Angus suffered serious lung damage from the gas used at Vimy Ridge, the damage of which created health challenges for the remainder of his life. It is interesting to note, in this regard, that the use of gas appears to have been sufficiently common by both sides, that except in exceptional circumstances it gets no special mention in the history books.
Angus’ exposure to gas could have been in the days preceding the Vimy attack on April 9. If it occurred on April 9, the source of exposure is not clear. It is the writer’s understanding that the Canadians themselves used gas as part of their initial bombardment. In fact, it is reported that “as the Canadian assault advanced, it overran many of the German guns because large numbers of their draught horses had been killed in the initial gas attack.[1]
[1] “Sheldon, Jack (2008), The German Army on Vimy Ridge 1914–1917, Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military as reported in Wickipedia.
