77621 Private Robert Douglas Knowles was 19 year old farmer from Victoria, BC with pre-war Militia service in the 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) when he attested into the 30th Battalion in November 1914 in his hometown. He was sent in a large reinforcement draft to the 15th Battalion following 2nd Ypres in April 1915 and served in No. 2 Company at Festubert where he suffered a GSW to the shoulder. He was evacuated to the 5th London Field Ambulance and from there to the 2nd Canadian General Hospital in Treport. He was sent to the UK for medical treatment at Coombe Lodge Hospital and Monk’s Horton before being discharged in August 1915. Private Knowles rejoined the battalion and served in the August trench tours at Hill 63; the long September 1915 to March 1916 trench tours on Messines Road and April-May tours at The Bluff and Hill 60. He served at Observatory ridge/Mount Sorrel in early June, the trench tour at Hill 60 later that same month and in July.
On August 5th his company was occupying The Crater and Gordon Posts near The Bluff when the mine was set off and the position shelled. Private Knowles was reported as KIA b ut his remains were either never located or, if located, never identified and therefore he is commemorated on The Menin Gate Memorial in Ieper.
NOK: Mrs. A.M. Knowles 62 Moss St., Victoria, BC