Robert Anthony Marshall

Robert Anthony Marshall was born in 1926 in Glasgow. His father Henry Francis was acting as a representative of Arthur Balfour and Company there.

Robert A Marshall

Henry Francis Marshall was born in 1901, the son of Robert William and Frances Marshall who died soon after Henry Francis’ birth. Henry Francis married Eva Summers, a native of Glasgow, in 1925. After the death in 1933 of Robert William who had joined Arthur Balfour & Co. as a shorthand typist in 1882 and risen to be a director by 1915, Henry Francis and his family returned to Sheffield. By 1935 the family was living at 32 Canterbury Avenue and at the start of the war, Henry was an ARP warden.

Robert Anthony Marshall attended King Edward VII school. He joined the School’s Scout Troop and was a Patrol Leader. During the war he helped to form the Air Scout Section and formed two Patrols of War Service Scouts. He became a Rover Scout in 1943, leaving in 1944 to become a cadet in the Merchant Navy.

Robert Marshall died on 30th June 1945 after falling some distance whilst on board the TSS City of Exeter. The King Edward VII School Magazine (December 1945) reported his death:

R. A. MARSHALL, Cadet, Merchant Navy, whose death from misadventure was briefly reported in our July Magazine, had been only a few months in the service when he suffered fatal injuries from a fall from the Third Tween Deck of his ship to the floor of the Bottom Hold. He remained unconscious until he died on the third day after the accident, three hours out of Karachi, where he is buried. He was 19 years of age.

The family grave in Fulwood has an inscription recording Robert’s death:

Robert Anthony Marshall of Glasgow, Cadet T.S.S. City of Exeter, accidentally killed at sea June 30th 1945, aged 19 years.

which is interesting in that it describes Robert as being ‘of Glasgow’. He is also recorded on the memorial at King Edward VII school and the plaque at Fulwood Church.

Sources

http://www.sheffieldscoutarchives.org.uk/WorldWarII/ww2-RollofHonour.html

http://oldedwardians.org.uk/nlc/mags/45Dec.html

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