Rank: Chaplain Regiment: YMCA Died: 15 February 1919 Age: 28 Parish: East Budleigh Local Memorials: East Budleigh Memorial Cross, East Budleigh Memorial Tablet Other Memorial: Cologne Southern Cemetery [Google] PDF Download: POPE Robert Coleman
The Rev Robert Coleman Pope was the son of the Rev Robert Gibbons Pope and Annie Maria Pope, of Eden Villa, East Budleigh.
He was serving as chaplain with the YMCA, the Young Men’s Christian Association, in Germany when he died.
From the outset of the war, the YMCA had been instrumental in setting up recreation centres for service personnel, first at home and later in France and Belgium to support troops near the front line. The centres offered a respite from the fighting, along with refreshments and often reading material.
Cologne, where Robert is buried, was in the area of Germany occupied by British troops after the Armistice.
The cause of Robert’s death, at the age of 28, is not recorded. It is possible it may have been due to the influenza outbreak which swept the globe at the time.
He is remembered with honour at the Cologne Southern Cemetery.
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