Vernon War Memorial, British Columbia, Canada
Vernon War Memorial, British Columbia, Canada
Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-
Born in Eglingham, near Alnwick on 8th July 1878, Robert was the fourth child of Scottish gardener John Crerar and his wife Hannah (nee Nevin) who had married in Newcastle in 1873. Their first child Elizabeth was born 1874, followed by Helen, Alexander and then Robert, after him came John, Francis, James and in 1882 Charles.
Robert followed in his father’s footsteps and became a fruit grower, and as such, he emigrated to Canada arriving in Halifax on 15th April 1910, making for Vernon, British Columbia on the west coast. Robert returned to visit his family over Christmas 1913, sailing from New York to Southampton and returning to British Columbia in April 1914.
December 1914 saw Robert enlisting in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Victoria. Giving his father then living in Jesmond as his next of kin and mentioning the five years he spent in the Newcastle Volunteer Artillery he became Private 107175 with 2nd Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles or 2CMR. The Battalion sailed for England on 12th June 1915 and were based at Shorncliffe Camp, Kent where they underwent more training, and embarked for France on 22nd September.
After a few days at Bailleul the Battalion marched to Neuve Eglise where they were billeted in farm outbuildings before moving into the trenches in early October.
In December the Commanding Officer of the Battalion requested that 2CMR become an infantry group as “cavalry does not fit in”, and from 1st January 1916 they became part of the 8th Infantry Brigade, and by April were fighting at Sanctuary Wood.
At the beginning of June the battalion was in reserve at the Ypres Bluff but received orders to “stand to and proceed to Zillebeke Huts”. At Maple Copse on 2nd June the men came under exceptionally heavy shell, machine gun and rifle fire and the battalion suffered very heavy losses including Private Robert Crerar, one of the twenty-three “missing, but probably killed”.
Robert Crerar is remembered in Jesmond on J1.06
In Canada he is remembered on their Virtual War Memorial and in their Book of Remembrance, and on the War Memorial in Vernon, British Columbia.
Canadian Book of Remembrance
Canadian Virtual Memorial
The CWGC entry for Private Crerar