Lieutenant Colonel John Charles Robertson, (28 October 1894 – 18 January 1942) was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served in both the First and Second World Wars.

Born in Geelong, Victoria, Robertson volunteered for service with the Australian Imperial Force in the First World War. He served on the Western Front as a non-commissioned officer. On return to Australia he went back to work, including in his grandfather's timber company. He joined the 23rd Battalion (The City of Geelong Regiment). At the onset of the Great Depression he lost his job but managed to survive and then succeed selling fuel. The 23rd and 21st (Victorian Rangers) Battalions were merged in 1929 to become the 23rd/21st Battalion as the number of recruits available had dwindled. At the outbreak of the Second World War Robertson, who was second in command of the 23rd/21st Battalion at the time, was asked to raise and command the newly formed 2/29th Battalion.

After training at Bonegilla and Bathurst, the 2/29th Battalion was sent to Malaya via Singapore. The battalion was based mostly around the Segamat area of Johore State, Malaya (now Malaysia) until 17 January 1942 when it was deployed to the Bakri crossroads area south of the Muar River, to push back the advancing Japanese forces. Robertson died from gunshot wounds and other injuries when he fell off a motorbike after returning to his battalion from a brigade conference on 18 January 1942. He was buried at the 101 mile post and later interred in a communal grave at the Commonwealth War Cemetery at Kranji in Singapore.

Early life John Charles Robertson was born on 28 October 1894 in Geelong, Victoria.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10680743 Australian War Memorial – John Charles Robertson, retrieved 25 September 2019 He was the first child of George Robertson and Jessie Neilson and had two younger brothers (one of whom died young) and a sister. Robertson received his primary and secondary education in Geelong including at the Geelong College.

A number of militia-style units existed across Victoria before the First World War. The Geelong Rifle Corp, formed in 1855Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer 23 April 1855 and also known as the 'Geelong unit', maintained volunteer and militia garrison artillery units, two companies of senior cadets, four companies of school cadets, and a squadron of Light Horse.The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 26 April 1941

Compulsory military training was instituted in 1911 for all boys born in 1894, unless they had been given an exemption.https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/forging/security/service AWM 'Compulsory military service' retrieved 25 September 2019https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/2487330/100-years-since-ballarat-answered-the-call/ '100 years since Ballarat answered the call', retrieved 30 June 2019 In 1911, the Geelong unit was reformed as the 70th Infantry Regiment with headquarters at Ballarat.The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946) 26 April 1941

According to his personal Record of Service Book, Robertson registered in the Senior Cadet Service on 31 January 1911. On 12 December 1911, Robertson was promoted to the rank of sergeant in training area 69B. Four months later, on 24 April 1912, he undertook an examination for entry into the Citizen Military Force. After completing his secondary education at the end of 1912, Robertson worked for Hawkes Bros, Hardware and General Merchants in Geelong. In 1915 he joined his father George Robertson in his late grandfather's firm, re-named John Robertson and Sons Pty Ltd.

Robertson's Record of Service Book shows that he was promoted to sergeant in the 70th Infantry Regiment on 12 February 1913, then to colour-sergeant on 18 August 1913. On 14 May 1914, Robertson received a letter notifying him that he had been recommended for appointment as a commissioned officer in the 70th Infantry Regiment. Robertson was formally appointed to the rank of lieutenant on 16 May 1914 as ‘an Officer of the Military Forces of the Commonwealth’.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10680743 Australian War Memorial – John Charles Robertson, retrieved 25 September 2019

First World War

War was declared in Australia early on 5 August 1914. Nine days later on 14 August, Lieutenant Colonel William Bolton, the commander of the 70th Infantry Regiment, formed the 8th Battalion, 2nd Division AIF. The 8th Battalion participated in the second wave of landings at Gallipoli and on return to Egypt in December 1915 was re-formed as the 60th Battalion, 15th Brigade, 5th Division and sent to the Western Front.https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/2487330/100-years-since-ballarat-answered-the-call/ '100 years since Ballarat answered the call', retrieved 30 June 2019

The 23rd Battalion, AIF was raised in Victoria in March 1915 as the third battalion of the 6th Brigade, 2nd Division. It included many men from Geelong, including from the 70th Infantry Regiment. It left Australia in March 1915 and, after further training in Egypt, was sent to Gallipoli in June 1915 where it fought at Lone Pine. The 23rd manned Lone Pine, alternating with the 24th Battalion, until they left Gallipoli in December 1915.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51463 AWM 23rd Australian Infantry Battalion, retrieved 30 June 2019

On 1 July 1915, Robertson was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. On 23 July 1915, he enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) as a private because it was necessary at that time for holders of commissioned rank to be more than twenty-three years of age.The Geelong Advertiser, 3 December 1938https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10680743 Australian War Memorial – John Charles Robertson, retrieved 25 September 2019 Robertson's first cousins, siblings William Gray Dixon Robertson (13th Light Horse Regiment and photographed in France with Robertson, both on horseback), John Noel Robertson (60th Battalion, killed in action in France) and Jeannie Robertson (Australian Army Nursing Service), also served.

According to his military service record, Robertson was initially assigned to the 23rd Battalion following that battalion's loss of men at Gallipoli. He was promoted to acting sergeant and embarked for Europe on 8 February 1916 on board the HMAT A68 Anchises. By the time he disembarked in Egypt in April 1916 the 23rd Battalion was already in France.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51463 23rd Battalion After further training in Egypt, Robertson joined the 23rd Battalion in France in May 1916. He fought at the Battle of Pozieres from 23 July 1916 to 7 August 1916 where he was wounded. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 14 August 1916 and hospitalised until late December. He received a promotion to lieutenant on 4 January 1917.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10680743 Australian War Memorial – John Charles Robertson, retrieved 25 September 2019

Robertson was transferred to the 6th Light Trench Mortar Battery on 6 April 1917.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10680743 Australian War Memorial – John Charles Robertson, retrieved 25 September 2019 A few weeks later he fought in the attack on Bullecourt, where he constructed a mortar out of two broken ones he found in a German trench and used it to fire over 230 rounds. For this action, he was awarded the Military Cross,https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1550916 Military Cross recorded in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No 189 of 8 November 1917, which describes his actions.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10680743 Australian War Memorial – John Charles Robertson, retrieved 25 September 2019 On 7 August 1918, he was accidentally wounded in the leg following live practice and was hospitalised.

After the war, Robertson was assigned to administrative work at headquarters in London for five months prior to embarkation home. His service record shows that he returned to Australia on 4 January 1920 on board the HMT Ypiringa.

Interwar period

On his return to Geelong, Robertson worked for Pettitt Robertson Pty Ltd, John Robertson and Sons Pty Ltd having been amalgamated with Pettitt that year.Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 – 1929) 12 January 1920 Robertson was placed in charge of the Order Department.

According to his military service record, Robertson's appointment with the A.I.F. was terminated on 4 March 1920. He joined the 23rd Battalion, part of the Citizen Military Forces on a part-time basis and went away on camps every year. His letter of termination from the A.I.F. noted that, had he not joined the Citizens Military Forces, he would have been placed on the Reserve of Officers. Robertson was promoted to captain on 30 April 1921.https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10680743 Australian War Memorial – John Charles Robertson, retrieved 25 September 2019

Robertson married Margaret Dorothy Aikman in Geelong on 23 September 1922 and they had three children. He was a buyer for Pettitt Robertson until the mid-1920s, travelling to Tasmania, New South Wales and all over Victoria inspecting and establishing contracts with companies such as the Melbourne Harbour Trust, the Tramways Board, and the Electricity Commission.

In the late 1920s, Robertson was put in charge of Pettitt Robertson's Geelong yard and dispatch, where one of his duties was to inspect and report on all timbers received. The economic impact of the Great Depression forced Pettitt Robertson Pty Ltd to close. A notice on page 2 of The Age (Melbourne) in 1932 refers to the sale of Pettitt Robertson's stock.The Age (Melbourne), 17 September 1932 Robertson lost his job at a critical point in his life with a very young family.

Robertson was forced to move out of the family home he had built. He found work heaving bails of wool in the wool stores and driving an ice truck. Eventually, with the help of his father-in-law Alexander Aikman, he started selling wood from a house with a vacant block in Chilwell.

As a result of the economic depression and the dwindling number of voluntary recruits after compulsory training ceased, the 23rd (Geelong) and 21st (Victorian Rangers) Battalions were merged in 1929 to become the 23rd/21st Battalion, known commonly as the City of Geelong Regiment or the Victorian Rangers.Grey 2008, p. 138Keogh 1965, p. 44

In 1932, Robertson was top of his 21A Course under Major Pain of 4th Division. A year later he was officer commanding, A Company, in the 23rd/21st Battalion. Robertson was awarded the V.D. (Victoria Decoration) and was promoted to major on 3 April 1935. Robertson and his wife Dorothy (known as 'Dorrie' or 'Dot') attended several military balls from the mid-1930s.Geelong Advertiser, 31 July 1935

By the mid-1930s, Robertson's fuel business began to thrive. He added petrol bowsers on the corner of Sharp and Pakington Streets, and bought another block on the other side of the house to carry more stock.

Robertson passed the examination for promotion to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in October 1938.The Geelong Advertiser, 1 October 1938

Robertson was very active in the Geelong social scene. He was a member of the Legacy Club, the board of management of St David's Presbyterian Church, and the committees of the Chilwell State School, the Chilwell Free Library, and the Geelong branch of the 23rd Battalion (A.I.F.) Association (of which he was first president).‘Killed in Action – Lieut-Colonel J.C. Robertson – Fought in Two Wars’, Geelong Advertiser, 21 January 1942.

Second World War