![]() He died on 18 April 1968.ĭownie has a grave/memorial at St Kentigern's Cemetery, Glasgow, Scotland. A modest man, he often played down his bravery, saying he won the medals for having 'shot the cook'. ![]() These poems are based on personal experiences as well as his take on. Football fans at Celtic Park regularly saw him on a Saturday as he worked as a cashier at the turnstiles. Will I Look Back is a book of poems that reflects the inner thoughts of Robert Downie. He lived in Charleston Street, Springburn, until his death in 1968. On 8 June 1946, Robert attended the World War II Victory Day Celebration Reception held at the Dorchester Hotel, London. Springburn Road was decorated with flags and bunting and lined with hundreds more people, and his achievement was widely reported in the Glasgow press. On his homecoming, he arrived at Glasgow Central Station to be met by hundreds of people who carried him shoulder-high to a taxi. Although wounded early in the fight, he remained with his company, giving valuable assistance while the position was being consolidated. Sergeant Downie accounted for several of the enemy and in addition captured a machine-gun, killing the team. At the critical moment he rushed forward shouting "Come on the Dubs!" which had an immediate response and the line rushed forward at this call. On 23 October 1916 east of Lesboeufs, France, when most of the officers had become casualties, Sergeant Downie, utterly regardless of personal danger and under very heavy fire, organised the attack which had been temporarily checked. Exactly what connection Robert had with Cecilia is not yet known, in 1911 she was living Tudor Lodge 148 Broughton, the census shows she lived on private means and had a servant, she was age 50, she passed away 28 March 1940 and is buried at Overleigh Cemetery, Chester.Īfter the war Robert and the five other soldiers killed on the 24 th November 1915 were exhumed and reburied at Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery.Robert Downie VC, MM (12 January 1894 – 18 April 1968) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.īorn on 12 January 1894 in Glasgow, Scotland, he was 22 years old, and a sergeant in the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. In 1919 Cecilia received £5 war gratuity. The paper states that Robert went to France 24 th December, however his medal index card shows he arrived in France on 4 January 1915. ![]() Buried in French Military Cemetery, Suzanne.Īn additional intelligence report in the diary indicates that the shelling happened at 2.45pm Robert Downie Sr., age 87, of Parlin passed away on Monday, Novemat Robert Wood Johnson Hospital with his loving family by his side. Buried in the French Military Cemetery, Maricourt. Casualties in the trenches by shell fire, 6 men killed, 3 wounded and 6 men suffering from shock.Ħ150 Sergt. Shacklady and a patrol reconnoitred the enemy lines and an old French trench which runs up to the German lines, nothing was seen, and no enemy encountered. Downey was born Apin Manhattan, New York, the son of writer, director and filmographer Robert Downey Sr. With an amazing list of credits to his name, he has managed to stay new and fresh even after over four decades in the business. The enemy shelled the village of SUZANNE, no casualties and very little damage done. has evolved into one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. The war diary for the period mentions Robert.Ģ4 th In the trenches. ![]() He came to the working boy’s home as a little boy and was one of the best young fellows ever turned out from the home.Ĭhester Chronicle, Saturday, December 4, 1915. His father was in the Black Watch and fell in the Boer War. He was shot through the heart, and his chum who wrote the sad news home, saw him buried next day. Morris who was talking to him about ten days ago just before the Manchester’s returned to the trenches, where Downie met a soldier’s fate. Mary’s-on-the-Hill (who is home on leave this week), told Miss Cecilia Keith Douglas that Downie was also a great favourite with his fellow soldiers. Morris (5 th Cheshire’s), the verger at St. He was a general favourite and his death is a real grief to all connected with the home. ![]() He was 24 years of age, had been nine years in the working boy’s home, and enlisted on the outbreak of war in August last year from the home, where he was then acting as assistant to the master in the wood yard. The authorities of the Chester Working Boys Home had news this week of the death of one of the home boys, who was killed in the trenches on November 24 th “somewhere in France.” Robert Downie was a private in the Manchester Regiment, he went to France on December 24 th, 1914, and had been out all the time on active service. ![]()
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