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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Robert Branks Powell

In memory of:

Lieutenant Robert Branks Powell

April 28, 1917

Military Service

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment)

Division:

16th Bn.

Additional Information

Son of Dr. Israel and Mrs. Powel, Victoria, British Columbia.

Commemorated on Page 311 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information

Cemetery:

ECOIVRES MILITARY CEMETERY
Pas de Calais, France

Grave Reference:

VI. G. 22.

Location:

Mont St Eloi is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, 8 kilometres north-west of Arras. The village stands on high ground overlooking the battlefields of Vimy and Souchez and the main Bethune-Arras road, and the ruined towers that rise from it were used as an observation post during the French attacks at Neuville-St Vaast and Givenchy in May 1915. Ecoivres is a hamlet lying at the foot of the hill, to the south-west and about 1.5 kilometres from Mont St Eloi on the Arras-St Pol line. The ECOIVRES MILITARY CEMETERY is on the D49 road.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

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  • Photo of Robert Powell– 1913 Canadian Davis Cup Team - Robert Branks POWELL, seated.

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    Photo of Robert Powell
    Photo of Robert Powell – 1913 Canadian Davis Cup Team - Robert Branks POWELL, seated.
  • Photo of Robert Powell

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    Photo of Robert Powell
    Photo of Robert Powell
  • Newspaper Clipping– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

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    Newspaper Clipping
    Newspaper Clipping – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Daily Colonist of May 4, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y125uvic#page/n0/mode/1up

    Details

    Newspaper clipping
    Newspaper clipping – From the Daily Colonist of May 4, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y125uvic#page/n0/mode/1up
  • Photo of Robert Powell– Robert Branks POWELL, son of Dr. Israel and Mrs. Powel, Victoria, BC. Born on April 2, 1881; killed at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 29, 1917 whilst leading his platoon of 50 men in a charge in the battle of Vimy Ridge – age 36. He was a lawyer and worked for B.C’s Lt. Gov. and Canada’s Governor General. He played competitive tennis in BC and won titles in the states of Washington and Oregon, and in France, Germany, Austria and Monte Carlo; in 1908 reached the men’s semi-finals at Wimbledon. At the outbreak of WWI he was in Chicago; went to England to enlist for basic training; attesting at Shorncliffe, Kent, on August 18, 1915. In Feb 1917, while stationed in France, he wrote this letter home: "Darling Mother, please don't worry and be anxious about me. If I fall, I should like you only to feel pride in the fact that I am trying to do my highest duty and never to mourn me. But I have confidence that God will help me to come through it. But the whole thing is hell."

    Details

    Photo of Robert Powell
    Photo of Robert Powell – Robert Branks POWELL, son of Dr. Israel and Mrs. Powel, Victoria, BC. Born on April 2, 1881; killed at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 29, 1917 whilst leading his platoon of 50 men in a charge in the battle of Vimy Ridge – age 36. He was a lawyer and worked for B.C’s Lt. Gov. and Canada’s Governor General. He played competitive tennis in BC and won titles in the states of Washington and Oregon, and in France, Germany, Austria and Monte Carlo; in 1908 reached the men’s semi-finals at Wimbledon. At the outbreak of WWI he was in Chicago; went to England to enlist for basic training; attesting at Shorncliffe, Kent, on August 18, 1915. In Feb 1917, while stationed in France, he wrote this letter home: "Darling Mother, please don't worry and be anxious about me. If I fall, I should like you only to feel pride in the fact that I am trying to do my highest duty and never to mourn me. But I have confidence that God will help me to come through it. But the whole thing is hell."
  • Attestation Papers

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    Attestation Papers
    Attestation Papers
  • Attestation Papers

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    Attestation Papers
    Attestation Papers
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Daily Colonist of May 12, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y132uvic#page/n0/mode/1up

    Details

    Newspaper clipping
    Newspaper clipping – From the Daily Colonist of May 12, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y132uvic#page/n0/mode/1up
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Daily Colonist of May 30, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y147uvic#page/n0/mode/1up

    Details

    Newspaper clipping
    Newspaper clipping – From the Daily Colonist of May 30, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y147uvic#page/n0/mode/1up
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Daily Colonist of June 10, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y157uvic#page/n0/mode/1up

    Details

    Newspaper clipping
    Newspaper clipping – From the Daily Colonist of June 10, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y157uvic#page/n0/mode/1up
  • Newspaper Clipping– Newspaper clipping from Daily Telegraph of May 8, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214563/Daily-Telegraph-May-8-1917.html

    Details

    Newspaper Clipping
    Newspaper Clipping – Newspaper clipping from Daily Telegraph of May 8, 1917. Image taken from web address of http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214563/Daily-Telegraph-May-8-1917.html
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Daily Colonist of June 26, 1917. Image taken from web address of https://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y170uvic#page/n0/mode/1up

    Details

    Newspaper clipping
    Newspaper clipping – From the Daily Colonist of June 26, 1917. Image taken from web address of https://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist59y170uvic#page/n0/mode/1up
  • Commemorative Plaque– Memorial Plaque commemorating barristers and students, members of the Alberta law society, who died while serving in the First World War.

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    Commemorative Plaque
    Commemorative Plaque – Memorial Plaque commemorating barristers and students, members of the Alberta law society, who died while serving in the First World War.
  • Grave marker– Courtesy Wilf Schofield, England

    Details

    Grave marker
    Grave marker – Courtesy Wilf Schofield, England

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

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