Albert Ingham ROBINSON MM

240954, Acting Company Sergeant Major. b. 1882, Clayton d. Tue. 20th November 1917 (aged 35).

Albert lived at 5 Granville Street with his parents, John and Sarah Robinson, his elder sister Edith and younger brother Percy. Alberts father John died shortly after Albert had enlisted.

Before joining up, Albert had eschewed the woolen mills and worked for over fifteen years as a plasterer and ran his own business from home.

Albert was a keen churchgoer and had grown up as a member of Clayton Baptist Church as well as being a Sunday School Scholar, and later teacher at the same church.

One of the few men in Clayton to receive an award for bravery, the ‘MM’ after Albert’s name stands for Military Medal. This was an award given to enlisted men for acts of bravery and valour which was introduced in early 1916 (about 110,000 were issued during the First World War). Albert had performed two conspicuous acts of valour in late 1916 and so was subsequently conferred with the honour of a Military Medal.

He had joined the 1st/6th West Yorkshire Regiment in November 1914 and had worked his way through the ranks during training so by the time he landed in France in April 1915 was a Corporal.

It not until the middle of 1916 that he was made Sergeant. Shortly before his death Albert was given the even greater privilege of being promoted to Acting Company Sergeant Major, the most senior rank for enlisted men before becoming an officer.

He had been slightly wounded on 3rd August 1917, and although a stint in hospital was necessary, it wasn’t a serious enough wound for Albert to be shipped back to Britain. He returned to the trenches in September 1917 and was killed in action eight weeks later.

Albert is buried at Hermies Hill British Cemetery, Hermies, Pas De Calais, France. His headstone is inscribed “They Will Be Done”.