Max Feindel Robbins

Name: Max Feindel Robbins Service Number: R65294 Rank: Flight Sergeant Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force Division: 35 (RAF) Squadron Date of Birth: January 18, 1914 Place of Birth: Rossway, Nova Scotia, Canada Date of Enlistment: August 14, 1940 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Age at Enlistment: 26 and 8 months Religion: Anglican Trade: Fisherman Marital Status: Single Date of Death: August 28, 1942 Age at Death: 21 Cemetery: Moncornet Military Cemetery, Moncornet, Ainse, France Grave Reference: Row 1, Grave 1. Commemorated on Page 110 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on March 8 Max Feindel Robbins was the son of Wilfred Deblois and Adeline (née Feindel) Robbins of Rossway, Nova Scotia, the brother of Gerald and Mary Winnifred and husband of Hazel Elizabeth (née Lewis) Robbins and father of Max Lewis, of Waterford, Digby County. Max and Hazel were married June 27, 1941, in Plympton, NS. Max’s commanding officer, Wing Commander J. H. Marks, 35 Squadron would write of him, “Whilst in Squadron your husband proved to be an outstanding Air Bomber. His work was carried out most thoroughly and he was without doubt one of the most reliable Air Bombers of the Squadron. He was always cheerful and most popular with everyone.” Max was a crew member aboard Halifax aircraft W7700, which was one of eight No. 35 Squadron aircraft detailed to attack Nurnberg on the night of the 28th / 29th August, 1942. It was determined that the aircraft went down near Moncornet, France in the village of Soize. It was reported by the people in the village that the crash burned fiercely and the Germans forbade the local inhabitants to approach the wreckage. Hence, at the time, they did not know the identity of any of the crew. On 29th August 1942 the squadron informed Bomber Command, the Air Ministry and the RAF Records Office that the aircraft and crew were missing. A telegram, along with a follow up letter from the Commanding Officer, was sent to the next of kin of each crew member advising them that he was “missing as the result of air operations on 28th / 29th August 1942”. The crews’ kit and personal belongings were removed from their lockers and catalogued; kit was returned to stores and personal belongings sent to the RAF Central Depository at RAF Colnbrook. For the remainder of the war, the Air Ministry Casualty Branch utilised information obtained from radio intercepts and from the German Authorities and prisoners of war (which was supplied via the International Red Cross) to establish whether lost crew had been killed, wounded, imprisoned or were “missing”; the squadron and the relevant families were kept informed. Post War search for the missing crew members After the war, an investigation officer from the Royal Air Force Missing Research and Enquiry Service (MRES) was tasked with locating the remains of the missing crew member(s). Original German documents, burial records and eye witness accounts were utilized to establish the location of the crash site, the cause of the loss and the initial fate of the crew; information was recorded in a MRES Investigation Report. As part of the process, any remains that were located were exhumed, identified (wherever possible) and, in accordance with Government policy at the time, concentrated (re-interred) at one of the Commonwealth War Cemeteries. Missing airmen who could not be found, or formally identified, had their names commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. The Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s (CWGC) records show that the remains of all the crew members were located at Montcornet Military Cemetery. It appears that some of their remains were left in situ, with some exhumed, formally identified and concentrated (re-interred) on 3rd February 1948 as follows in the Montcornet Military Cemetery: Bush, Graham Francis Sergeant 990047 Row M. Coll. grave 3-6 Cook, Albert Flying Officer J/6152 Row M. Coll. grave 3-6 McCartney, Herbert Sydney Sergeant 1354651 Row M. Grave 2 Phillips, Garfield James Sergeant 929901 Row M. Coll. grave 3-6 Robbins, Mac Feindel Flight Sergeant R/65294 Row M. Grave 1 Taylor, Frederick John Pilot Officer J/15649 Row M. Coll. grave 3-6 Tucker-Feltham, Patrick William Flight Sergeant 909105 Row M. Coll. grave 3-6

Sources: Halifax W7700 (28/08/1942) Canadian Virtual War Memorial Also see: Albert Cook

Flight Sergeant Max Robbins in center of photo with Flying Officer Albert Cook, also from Nova Scotia, second on left.