Robert James Eustace was born in the summer of 1887 in the Oxfordshire village of Shirburn. The oldest of three children, he was the only son to James and Elizabeth (or Eliza) Eustace. James was a shepherd, and by the time of the 1901 census, he had taken up work on a farm near Slough, Berkshire. The document found the family living at 4 Wellington Place, on Grove Road, to the north of the town.

Eliza died in the years after that census was taken, and by the time of the next one, recorded in 1911, James and Robert had moved to 2 Pioneer Place in nearby Cippenham. Robert was employed as a carman, but it is clear that he sought more and he took the risk of emigrating for a better life.

Robert – who now took to calling himself James – moved to Gull Lake, Saskatchwean, where he took up work as a farmer. It is unclear when he left Britain, but when war broke out, he was called upon to come back.

James enlisted in Moosejaw on the 30th November 1915. His service papers show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.64m) tall, and had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a medium complexion.

After initial training, Private Eustace’s unit – the 28th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry – left for Europe. Departing from Halifax on the 15th August 1916, James arrived in Liverpool nine days later. Further training took place, and he arrived in France on 5th December.

Private Eustace fought in some of the key battles of that part of the conflict, including at Ancre Heights, and Arras. But it was at Hill 60 that James came unstuck, and he was badly wounded in the buttock and leg.

Initially treated on site, Private Eustace was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to the Lord Derby War Hospital in Warrington, Cheshire, on 26th August 1917, his wounds required surgery. James was also recorded as having an abscess in the psoas muscle in his lower back. During the operation, this was drained and cleaned. His service papers included a diagram of the operation from his surgeon.

James remained in hospital for a month, and during that time, he developed toxaemia. The combination of his injury, the abscess and the blood poisoning would ultimately prove fatal: Private Eustace passed away on 28th September 1917. He was 30 years of age.

The body of Robert James Eustace was taken back south for burial. James, shill a shepherd, was now living at Dorney Court Farm, not far from Slough, and it was in the village’s burial ground that he laid his son to rest.

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