Captain Merrill Robinson fought in the 52nd Battalion and the 8th Battalion, attaining the rank of Lance-Sergeant. He was wounded in action on the first day of the battle of Vimy Ridge, losing his eyesight and almost losing his leg. After the war, he went on to advocate for the blind in Canada and internationally and was the Director of The Canadian National Institute for the Blind, BC-Yukon Division, from 1929 to 1964. In 1936, the Department of National Defence appointed him to the honorary rank of Captain. During the Second World War, he formed the Citizen’s Rehabilitation Council and worked for the National War Finance Committee and was awarded the civilian Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1943.
Robinson was awarded and Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of British Colombia in 1957 for his work advocating for the blind. Read a brief biography of Robinson on the UBC website.
Information about Merrill Robinson can be found in the Papers & Records volume XXXI (2003), starting on page 51.
Read Robinson’s military records through Library and Archives Canada.
World War One Thunder Bay Centennial Project 