Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The superb and rare Great War ‘Mespotamian theatre’ pilot’s D.S.O., 1915 ‘Ypres - Royal Marine Artillery’ M.C., ‘Iraq 1919-21’ D.F.C., and three clasp G.S.M. combination group of nine awarded to Group Captain F. L. Robinson, who prior to military service represented Ireland at field hockey in the 1908 Olympics, becoming a silver medalist after losing to England in the final - in which he scored Ireland’s only goal. Subsequently becoming a Clerk in Holy Orders, Robinson then went on to serve successively under the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry during the course of his military career.

He initially distinguished himself as an Artillery Observing Officer under constant shell fire up in the heights of Ypres Cathedral - his gallantry being recognised with the award of the Military Cross, the first gazetted to the Royal Marines for the Great War. Robinson transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, initially as an observer and then as a pilot - going on to command 63 Squadron in Mesopotamia.

Robinson continued to serve with 63 Squadron, and was present in the operations to suppress the rebellions in Kurdistan and in Iraq in 1919-21, in addition to further operations in N.W. Persia, and thrice had his aircraft put out of action by enemy ground fire. He was subsequently appointed A.D.C. to King George VI

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel; Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; Distinguished Flying Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; 1914 Star, with clasp (2nd Lieut. F. L. Robinson, R.M. Brigade); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Major F. L. Robinson, R.A.F.); General Service 1918-62, 3 clasps, Kurdistan, Iraq, N.W. Persia (F./L. F. L. Robinson, R.A.F.); Jubilee 1935; Coronation 1937, lightly cleaned, one or two edge bruises, generally very fine and better (9) £13,000-£15,000

The Aviation Collection, Spink, May 1998.

D.S.O. London Gazette 5 April 1919:

‘A very gallant and able Squadron Commander (R.N.A.S.), who, by his fine leadership and personal example, raised the morale of his command. By his untiring energy he has rendered most valuable service on reconnaissance duty and bombing raids.’ [Mesopotamia]

M.C. (originally recommended for the D.S.C.) London Gazette 3 September 1915:

‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty as Artillery Observing Officer (R.M.A.) between 30 July and 10 August 1915, when posted on a high building in the neighbourhood of Ypres [Ypres Cathedral]. The building was continually shelled by the enemy with heavy guns, but he maintained his position, a most precarious and dangerous one, even when the building was in imminent danger of falling, and supplied valuable information throughout.’

D.F.C. London Gazette 28 October 1921:

‘For continuous good work, gallantry and devotion to duty. This Officer has flown over 100 hours during operations and has shown at all times an untiring example throughout. He has had three machines put out of action by hostile fire from the ground.’

M.I.D. London Gazette 1 January 1916. [France]

Approximately 57 D.S.O.s awarded to the R.A.F. for the Great War, and 54 M.C.s awarded to the Royal Marines for the Great War - of which Robinson’s award was the first to be gazetted.

Franks Lubbock Robinson was born in Rathdrum, County Wicklow, Ireland in March 1886. He was educated at Edinburgh House School and St Columbia’s College, Dublin. In 1908, he represented Ireland as part of the field hockey team competing at the Olympic Games held in London that year. Ireland were silver medalists, losing to England in the final 8-1, with Robinson scoring Ireland’s only goal. Robinson was initially employed in the linen business prior to becoming a Clerk in Holy Orders.

Ypres Cathedral 1915 - Target Practice

Robinson, with the advent of the Great War, went on to serve successively under the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry. He was commissioned Temporary Second Lieutenant in the Royal Marine Artillery on 29 September 1914. Robinson embarked for France with the Royal Marine Artillery Brigade, and served in the 12-pounder battery at Dunkirk. He advanced to Lieutenant in February 1915, and served with R.M.A. No. 2 Howitzer Brigade under Major G. L. Raikes. The latter’s guns first went into action at Neuve Chapelle that March, and for Robinson’s subsequent deeds at Ypres in late July and early August 1915, he was awarded his M.C.

The following additional detail behind the award of Robinson’s M.C. is provided in The Royal Marine Artillery 1804-1923, by Edward Fraser and L. G. Carr-Laughton:

‘Observation was especially important in the case of howitzers, and was carried out in the face of many difficulties. In the northern area the flatness of the country, and the destruction of high buildings by the enemy, had to be reckoned with. In these circumstances an Observation Post was maintained in Ypres Cathedral which commanded the whole salient. In the summer of 1915, when there was little firing, this post was manned by officers from the howitzers as a general look-out post, and valuable information was obtained. The cathedral was a favourite target of the enemy batteries which extended round it in a semi-circle, but although the observers had some narrow escapes, there were no casualties. Captain G. L. Raikes [later C.B., D.S.C. and Bar], and Lieutenants F. L. Robinson and T. Cuming were awarded the D.S.C. [sic] at the end of the year, chiefly in recognition of this service.’

New adventures in the Sky - France, Mesopotamia, and Iraq 1919-21

In 1916, as per his Times obituary notice, Robinson ‘was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps as an Observer and within four months qualified as a pilot, and was given a Flight Command in France. At the same time he exchanged his commission in the Royal Marines for one in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, remaining, however, attached to the R.F.C.’

Robinson initially served as an Observer with 6 Squadron in 1916, and in the following year he was ordered to Mesopotamia, where he would assume command of 63 Squadron but, as described by Trevor Henshaw in The Sky Their Battlefield, it was a difficult start for pilots and machines:

‘No. 63 Squadron had arrived in Mesopotamia on the 13th of August [1917]. Amongst the aircraft they brought were R.E.8s which held out the hope of greatly improved performance. The fate that befell its personnel, however, was indicative of the problems the weather caused that summer for within weeks the unit was reduced by sickness and exhaustion to a bare handful of men. The Squadron had worked up and trained in Northumberland, only to be delivered into almost unendurable conditions, in which some of their number actually died. Those few still able to work struggled on with the erection of their machines, which like many others already there were soon also deteriorating. These factors delayed the start of operations for the unit and are bound to have contributed to some of its early losses. The first completed R.E.8s reached Samarra airfield in Baghdad on the 14th September. It had two reconnaissance Flights of these machines, as well as a fighting Flight of SPADs, Bristol Scouts and Martinsyde G100s. The first reconnaissance the unit carried out was on the 25th, and both machines involved were lost.’

By October 1917, however, 63 Squadron was ready to participate in operations on the Tigris front, where in fact it lent most of the air support, carrying out reconnaissance, bombing and contact patrols in the presence of ever-growing numbers of German aircraft - six of the Squadron’s machines were shot down or damaged in subsequent retaliatory raids on the enemy’s airfield at Kifri. And as the campaign progressed, so moved 63 Squadron to airfields anew until, in September 1918, it arrived at Tikrit for the final push up the Tigris, its bombing and machine-gunning reaping havoc among the retreating Turks, not least at Fat-ha Gorge in late October. Robinson was awarded the D.S.O.

Moreover, and still with 63 Squadron, Robinson was subsequently present in operations to suppress the rebellions in Kurdistan and in Iraq between 1919 and 1921, in addition to further operations in north-west Persia, and thrice had his aircraft put out of action by enemy ground fire. He was awarded the D.F.C.

Home at last - A.D.C. to the King

Returning home in 1921, Robinson attended the Army Staff College, but went back out to Iraq with a staff appointment at H.Q. in the late 1920s. He was appointed to the command of 10 Squadron at Duxford in 1929, before being appointed to the command of R.A.F. Kenley the following year. Robinson advanced to Group Captain; commanded R.A.F. Depot, Uxbridge, from 1931 until 1933; and was appointed A.D.C. to King George VI in 1933. He served as C.O. of R.A.F. Amman between 1933 and 1935, and commanded 2 F.T.S. at Digby from 1936. Robinson retired in May 1939, having held the R.A.F. Squash Rackets Championship for several years in succession, the last occasion being in 1932 at the age of 46. In later life he resided at La Moye Manor, Saint Brelade, Jersey, and died there in November 1949.

Sold with photographic images of recipient in uniform, and a file of extensive copied service papers and research.