Robert Grierson Combe

Lieutenant Robert Grierson Combe VC (5 August 1880 – 3 May 1917) was a Canadian soldier and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery during the First World War. Born at St. Machar, Aberdeen, Scotland, he was the youngest child of James Combe and Elizabeth Jardine. He attended Ferryhill School and Aberdeen Grammar School before undertaking a pharmacy apprenticeship with William E. Hay in Aberdeen and London. While living in London, he served for about a year with the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. In April 1906, Combe emigrated to Canada aboard the SS Pretorian and settled in Saskatchewan. He initially worked in a drugstore at Moosomin before moving to Melville in 1908, where he established his own pharmacy and later opened a second business in Dubuc. On 18 August 1909, he married schoolteacher Jean Traquair Donald in Melville. Before the First World War, he also served for approximately one year with the 16th Light Horse militia.

Combe enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 1 April 1915 at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 53rd Infantry Battalion. He sailed for Britain in September 1915 and subsequently qualified as a major while employed away from front-line duty. Wishing to serve in combat, he voluntarily reverted to the rank of lieutenant. He sailed for France on 27 March 1916 and joined the 27th (City of Winnipeg) Battalion in the field on 29 March. Library and Archives Canada likewise records that he had qualified as a major but resumed the rank of lieutenant at his own request.

During the spring and summer of 1916, Combe suffered recurrent lumbago and was evacuated from the front for treatment. After hospitalization, including treatment at Bath Officers’ Hospital, he was found fit for home service and attached to the 11th Reserve Battalion at Shorncliffe. A medical board declared him fit for general service on 19 March 1917. He returned to France in April and rejoined the 27th Battalion on 25 April 1917, only eight days before the action for which he would receive the Victoria Cross.

On 3 May 1917, during the fighting south of Acheville in the Battle of Arras, Combe led his company forward under intense artillery fire. The attack suffered severe losses, and he reached the objective with only five men. He then attacked the German position with grenades, inflicted casualties, gathered scattered soldiers around him, captured the company objective and took approximately eighty prisoners. He repeatedly pressed the attack until he was killed by an enemy sniper while personally leading his bombers. The official record states that his leadership and courage were decisive in carrying and holding the position.

Combe was buried near Acheville, but subsequent fighting destroyed the battlefield cemetery and his grave was lost. Because his remains were never recovered or identified, his name is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.

His Victoria Cross was announced in The London Gazette on 27 June 1917. The official citation read:

“For most conspicuous bravery and example. He steadied his Company under intense fire and led them through the enemy barrage, reaching the objective with only five men. With great coolness and courage Lt. Combe proceeded to bomb the enemy, and inflicted heavy casualties. He collected small groups of men and succeeded in capturing the Company objective, together with eighty prisoners. He repeatedly charged the enemy, driving them before him, and whilst personally leading his bombers was killed by an enemy sniper. His conduct inspired all ranks, and it was entirely due to his magnificent courage that the position was carried, secured and held.”

The award was posthumous. His widow, Jean Traquair Combe, was twice invited to receive the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace but was unable to attend because of ill health. On 4 October 1919, the Prince of Wales presented the Victoria Cross to her at the Legislative Building in Regina, Saskatchewan. Veterans Affairs Canada independently confirms the 1919 presentation in Regina.

Combe’s complete First World War medal entitlement comprised three awards: the Victoria Cross, the British War Medal 1914–1920, and the Victory Medal 1914–1919. No 1914–15 Star formed part of his entitlement because his service in a qualifying theatre of war did not begin until 1916. Specialist records state that his medal group is held by the Saskatchewan Archives in Regina. The Government of Saskatchewan independently confirms that Combe’s original Victoria Cross was donated to the Archives by his widow in 1963 and remains the only publicly held Victoria Cross in the province.