The Martins: A Military Family
by Robert Martin
Colonel Sir Robert Edmund Martin (1874-1961)
Second in command of the 5th battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment.
22nd May 1915 - Due to the ill health of the Commanding Officer of 5th Battalion, cross-posted to command the 4th Battalion.
13th October 1915 – Led battalion attack on Hohenzollern Redoubt on the Western Front. Shot in the knee helping machine gun team out of the trenches and left unable to walk but stayed in command of his men for a further 22 hours.
March 1916 - After 4 operations, Robert was repatriated and learned to walk again after further treatment and convalescence.
Sir Robert ran the Mountsorrel Granite Company, the product of which was vital to the war effort
Robert recovering at Duchess of Westminster’s Hospital, Le Touquet
Major William Francis Martin
World War One soldiers helmet
Major William Francis Martin (1876-1915)
Younger brother of Robert
C (Loughborough) Squadron Leader of Leicestershire Yeomanry
13th May 1915 – Fought at Battle of Frezenberg during the Second Battle of Ypres, which saw the first mass use of poison gas on the Western Front. William was killed in action, but his body was not recovered until after the war.
He is buried at Oosttaverne Wood Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery, Belgium.
World War One trench periscope
Major Charles Hamilton Martin (1882-1969)
Cousin of Robert and William
Adjutant of the Leicestershire Yeomanry
13th May 1915 - Seriously wounded at Battle of Frezenberg
1916 – Medically discharged and returned to run the Mountsorrel Granite Company with Robert.
Colonel Sir Robert Andrew St George Martin (1914-1993)
Son of William
1934 - Commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
1938 – 1940 - Aide-de-camp to the Governor General of South Africa
1940 – Robert returned to the UK to rejoin his battalion for World War Two.
For two years he served with Royal Warwickshire Regiment and then was Second in Command of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry at Arnham.
After WWII, Robert served in the Far East; was Military Secretary to the Governor General of Australia; commanded units in Cyprus in the 1950s and was Brigade Colonel of Green Jackets Brigade at Winchester
1965 – Retired from the Army
Colonel Sir Robert Andrew St George Martin
Military medals of Colonel Sir Robert Andrew St George Martin