Robinson, Sapper Wilfred Sidney

Service Highlights

Service Number: 3138029
Born August 18, 1896 in East Nissouri Township, Oxford County, Ontario.
Son of Ernest S. Robinson and Martha J. Robinson of Lakeside, Ontario.
Occupation prior to service: Farmer.
Drafted under the Military Service Act in London, Ontario on June 11, 1918.
Initially served with the 1st Depot Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment.
Assigned to the 3rd Canadian Engineers Reinforcement Depot.
Arrived in England on July 22, 1918.
Died of influenza pneumonia on October 10, 1918, age 22.
Buried in Seaford Cemetery, Sussex, England.
Commemorated on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and through local remembrance.

A Life and Service Remembered

Wilfrid Sidney Robinson was born in 1896 in Oxford County, Ontario, and grew up in the Lakeside area, where his family farmed. Like many young rural Canadians of his generation, he came from an agricultural background and was working as a farmer before answering the call to serve during the First World War.

In June 1918, Wilfrid enlisted under the Military Service Act in London, Ontario. His service began late in the war, first with the 1st Depot Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment, before transferring into the Canadian Engineers. This shift placed him in a critical support role, helping prepare men and materials essential to the massive engineering demands of modern warfare.

A month after enlisting Wilfrid boarded the SS Saturnia which transported him to England in July of 1918, but his war would be tragically short. During the devastating global influenza pandemic that swept through military camps as the war neared its end, he became ill with influenza pneumonia. He was admitted to the 14th Canadian General Hospital in Eastbourne, Sussex, where he died on October 10, 1918.

Wilfrid never reached the battlefields of France, yet his sacrifice was no less real. Like thousands of servicemen lost to disease during wartime, his death reflects the many dangers faced by soldiers beyond combat alone. His life was cut short at just 22 years old, only one month before the Armistice.