Corporal George Robinson of Portadown, Co. Armagh was captured while serving in 2nd Battalion, Special Air Service during Operation LOYTON in France in 1944.
Lance Corporal
884882
Lance Corporal George Robinson (884882) served in A Squadron, 2nd Battalion, Special Air Service Regiment, Army Air Corps during the Second World War. He was the son of the late Hugh Robinson and Mrs. Robinson of 133 Bridge Street, Portadown, Co. Armagh.
George enlisted in the army in 1938 aged 18 years old. Before joining the Special Air Service Regiment, Robinson had served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery seeing action in Malta, North Africa and Italy. In March 1944, he spent 14 days in his hometown while on leave.
Lance Corporal Robinson died on 16th October 1944 aged 24 years old, killed by members of the Waffen S.S. having been captured during Operation LOYTON near La Grande-Fosse, France.
Mrs. Robinson, 133 Bridge St., Portadown, has been informed by the War Office that following full inquiries and close investigation made on the continent it must now be concluded that her son, Corporal George Robinson, of the 2nd Special Air Service Regiment, Army Air Corps, died after capture by the enemy in October 1944.
Neither the precise circumstances nor the exact date of his death are at present known, stated the War Office letter, but from evidence obtained by an officer sent to investigate what happened to Cpl. Robinson and his comrades2, it was presumed they were shot after capture and that death occurred on or shortly after 16th October 1944.
In a further letter from Lieut.-Col. B.M.F. Franks D.S.O., M.C., who last saw Cpl. Robinson on the night of 6th October, it is stated that inquiries would indicate that the rescue party, in which Robinson was taking part (he had been dropped by parachute into the area of the Vosges, France, at the end of August 1944), ran into a German patrol and were captured on 7th October. Robinson had been traced to a camp at Scirmech [sic], in Alsace, but of what subsequently happened, there is no information.
The officer, in his letter to Mrs. Robinson, said he did not hold out any hopes of her son’s survival, particularly in view of the fact that others who were captured in similar circumstances had been definitely identified as killed.
The letter concluded: “I cannot tell you how sorry I am to have to break this news to you, and I send you my most sincere sympathy, and, indeed, that of all the regiment, who knew your son and looked up to him as a fine and courageous soldier. You will not hear any further from the War Office, as at present his death is not official and will, therefore, continue to be shown as ‘missing’.
Lance Corporal Robinson’s grave is in Section 3, Row K, Grave 3 of Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany. His name is on the Portadown War Memorial, Portadown, Co. Armagh.