2nd Lieut Robert Henry Tomlinson

Lost At The Somme Battle: 

To the Glorious Memory of Lieut.-Colonel E. H. Trotter, D.S.O., Captain A. de Bels Adam, Captain C. N. Brockbank, Lieut. G. M. Dawson, Lieut. B. Withy, Sec.-Lieut. N. A. Barnard, Sec.-Lieut. L. R. Davies, Sec.-Lieut. E. Fitzbrown, Sec.-Lieut. D. M. Griffin, Sec.-Lieut. G. B. Golds, Sec.-Lieut. G. A. Herdman, Sec.-Lieut. R. V. Merry, Sec.-Lieut. R. H. Tomlinson, Sec.-Lieut. T. R. Walker, and the non-commissioned officers and men the 18th (Serv.) Battalion “The King's” (Liverpool Regiment), who fell in the battle of the Somme, July, 1916.

Bob was commemorated by his family on the second anniversary of his death in the Liverpool Echo on 19th July 1918:

TOMLINSON - In loving memory of ROBERT HENRY TOMLINSON (Bob) Sec. Lieut. King's Liverpool Regt. (Pals), who died at Rouen from wounds received in action, July 19 1916.

Life's race well run,

Life's work well done,

And now rest.

Only a step removed,

And that step into bliss, 

Our own, our dearly loved, 

Whom here on earth we miss. 

Sadly missed by his loving Parents, Brothers and Sisters 39 Moss-lane, Orrell Park, Liverpool.   

Bob is commemorated on the following Memorials:

Liverpool Institute now LIPA

Hall of Remembrance, Liverpool Town Hall, Panel 38 Left 

The extract below was taken from Liverpool's Scroll of Fame. 

"Our soldiers are so brave that it is not always easy to know if they are suffering, but we do all we can to make them comfortable." So wrote Sister F.S. Oldfield from the 8th General Hospital, Rouen, to the parents of Lieut. Robert Henry Tomlinson, of the 18th King's, on July 13th, 1916.

This officer aged thirty one years, was in the Battle of the Somme, near Albert, from the 1st to the 9th of that month. On the last named date he was struck by a shell while in conversation with a group of fellow officers in a trench, and received multiple wounds of a serious nature. His right arm had to be amputated at the Clearing Station, and his head and face, and both legs were also severely wounded.

And yet the Presbyterian Chaplain (Rev. W.H. Leathem) described him as quite cheerful and quite uncomplaining. "He is evidently a very fine fellow," he added "and I earnestly trust he make a good recovery." But that was not to be. He passed away six days later. "He was very plucky" wrote the sister "and died like a British officer." He was laid to rest in St Sever Cemetery, Rouen, where so many of Britain's best and bravest sleep.

Lieutenant Tomlinson was the son of Superintendent John Tomlinson of the Liverpool City Police, and Mrs Tomlinson. He was a single man though engaged to be married, and resided at 39 Moss Lane, Orrell Park, Aintree. Educated at the  Liverpool Institute, he entered the service of the Liverpool Corporation, and for fourteen years had held an important position in the Rates Department. In the Rifle Club of the Municipal Officer's Guild he was a general favourite and his death was sincerely mourned by the members. He was a good shot at target and miniature range, and won many prizes at the latter; and cricket and football also attracted him. He took and active part in the work of the Everton Valley Presbyterian Church, being an officer bearer of the Church, and a leading worker in the Sunday School and Literary Society.

Ten years before the war "Bob" Tomlinson, as he was known to all his friends, joined the 5th King's (Territorial) Regiment, and rose to the rank of Company Sergeant-Major. When the great crisis came he volunteered with his Battalion for active service, and was immediately called up. After a period of traing at Knowsley, Canterbury, and elsewhere, he crossed to France in February 1915. At the end of March, while in the trenches at Givenchy, he was shot through the hand, and was invalided to England. On his recovery he was, in the July following, given a commission and transferred to the 15th King's. For a while he was stationed at Kinmel Park, and afterwards became musketry instructor to his Battalion at Prees Heath. February, 1916, saw him back on the Western Front attached to the 18th King's - one of the "Pals" Battalions. It was while serving with this unit, as an officer of a trench mortar battery, that he met his death under the circumstances described above.

"He was well liked by the boys in the Company and in the trench mortar battery, and was always ready to give a helping hand." " He was full of life, and had a jovial smile for everyone." "He and I were always great friends, and the fact he was an officer and I a Sergeant did not marr our friendship. Bob won the hearts of all those he came into contact with." Such are some of the tributes from those who went with him through the ordeal of fire.

It only remainds to add the testimony of Rev. Douglas McLennan, who in an address at a memorial service in the Everton Valley Church, on the 23rd July, 1916, spoke of Lieutenant Tomlinson as a calm brave, and fearless soldier, a man capable of true love and friendship, a devoted and helpful son and brother, and a sincere follower of the Master. "In the ordinary course of social life he was habitually courteous," he said "his courteneousness being affability of heart as well as demeanour; and while he cherished a kind and obliging disposition to all, those who shared his more intimate friendship found in him a friend who was free and pleasant in his converse with them, in whose integrity they could place the utmost confidence, and who was ready to serve them in everything that lay in his power. Very pleasant he was to his own people, and he was worthy of their warmest love. And to the one he loved so loyally and so devotedly, outside his own home and who is so sorely stricken by this sad blow, we tender our deepest sorrow. 

Tributes such as these are not mere commonplace appreciations ; they are obviously the sincere expressions of those who had known him intimately. He lies buried on the planes of Northern France, but his memory will remain ever green not only among those who were nearest and dearest, but among those outside his family circle who had the good fortune to know him.