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{{Short description|British civil engineer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox engineer
|name = Vernon Robertson
|honorific_suffix = [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire|CBE]], [[Military Cross|MC]]
|image =
|image_size =
|alt =
|caption =
|nationality = [[United Kingdom|British]]
|birth_name = Vernon Alec Murray Robertson
|birth_date = {{birth date|1890|12|29|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[India]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1971|2|12|1890|12|29|df=yes}}
|death_place =
|education =
|spouse =
|parents =
|children =
|discipline = [[Civil engineering|Civil]], [[Railway engineering|railway]]
|institutions = {{plainlist|
*Fellow and President of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]]
*Fellow and President of the [[Permanent Way Institution]]
}}
|practice_name =
|significant_projects =
|significant_design =
|significant_advance =
|significant_awards =
}}
'''Vernon Alec Murray Robertson''', [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire|CBE]], [[Military Cross|MC and bar]] (29 December 1890 – 12 February 1971) was a British [[civil engineer]] in the railway sector. During the First World War he served with the [[Royal Engineers]] with distinction, earning the [[Military Cross]] twice. Robertson later worked for a number of railway companies before becoming Chief Civil Engineer to the [[London Passenger Transport Board]], [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]] and the [[Southern Region of British Railways]]. During and after the Second World War he returned to the army and served with, and commanded, the [[Engineer and Railway Staff Corps]]. Robertson served as president of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] for 1949–50.

==Early life and First World War ==
Robertson was born in 1890 at [[Calcutta]] in [[India]]. After studying at [[Dover College]] and Crystal Palace School of Practical Engineering, he was articled to D. Gravell between 1909 and 1912 before joining the [[South Eastern and Chatham Railway]].<ref name="WWW">{{cite web|title=Robertson, Vernon Alec Murray|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U159021|website=Who Was Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=April 2014|access-date=3 April 2016}}</ref>

During [[World War I]], he served with [[London Scottish (regiment)|London Scottish]] as a [[non-commissioned officer]] before being commissioned in the [[Royal Engineers]] as a [[temporary rank|temporary]] second lieutenant on 15 October 1915.<ref name="ICEObit"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29328|date=15 October 1915|page=10156}}</ref> He served with the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF) in France between 1915 and 1919.<ref name="ICEObit"/> Robertson received promotion to the rank of lieutenant on 4 October 1916 and was appointed [[adjutant]] on 30 October.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29883|date=29 December 1916 |page=12663}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29929|supp=y|date=2 February 1917 |page=1241}}</ref> He was appointed to the acting rank of captain on 10 November 1916 and by 1 October 1918 was an acting major (at which point he received the temporary rank of captain).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30401|supp=y|date=23 November 1917 |page=12337}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31137|supp=y|date=21 January 1919 |page=1133}}</ref> Robertson retired from the army on 4 May 1919, being promoted at the same time to the temporary rank of major.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31350|supp=y|date=20 May 1919 |page=6331}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32442|supp=y|date=30 August 1921 |page=6921}}</ref>

During the war Robertson was mentioned twice in dispatches and received the [[Military Cross]] and bar.<ref name="ICEObit">{{cite journal|title=Obituary. Vernon Alec Murray Robertson, CBE. (1890–1971) |journal=Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |date=April 1971 |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=725–726 |doi=10.1680/iicep.1971.6344 |doi-access=free }}</ref> He was awarded the Military Cross on 26 September 1917 for personally visiting, during heavy artillery and gas bombardment, a number of bridges to report upon their condition. He was badly affected by the gas but completed the task and afterwards ensured that supplies were carried up for the repair of the structures.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=13192 |date=10 January 1918 |page=299 |city=e }}</ref> The bar was awarded 8 March 1919 for actions taken 22–25 October 1918. During the [[Hundred Days Offensive]] he successfully erected five bridges over a canal and several streams at [[Nivelle]], whilst under German machine gun and artillery fire.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=13510 |date=8 October 1919 |page=3224 |city=e }}</ref>

==Civilian career==
After the First World War he held numerous positions in the railway industry, including positions with [[Great Eastern Railway|Great Eastern]] and [[London and North Eastern Railway]]s, before becoming Chief Civil Engineer (1938–40) and then Engineer-in-Chief (1940–43) to the [[London Passenger Transport Board]].<ref name="ICEObit" /> He was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] in the [[1943 Birthday Honours]] for his contribution to London transport during the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36033 |supp=y |date=28 May 1943 |page=2433 }}</ref><ref name="ICEObit" /> In 1944 he became Chief Civil Engineer to the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway Company]], and the [[Southern Region of British Railways]] post-nationalisation, until his retirement in 1951. Subsequently, he was a partner and then consultant to [[Halcrow Group|Sir William Halcrow and Partners]] until 1964.<ref name="WWW" />

Robertson had become a member of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] in 1919, was elected a fellow in 1930 and served as president for the November 1949 to November 1950 session.<ref name="ICEObit" /><ref name="Civils">{{cite book | last = Watson | first = Garth | title = The Civils | publisher = Thomas Telford | year = 1988 | pages = 253 | isbn = 0-7277-0392-7}}</ref> He was also a fellow and president of the [[Permanent Way Institution]], vice-president of the [[Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport|Institution of Transport]], a member of the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]] and the Institution of Electrical Engineers, an honorary fellow of the [[Society of Engineers]] and an honorary member of the [[American Railway Engineering Association]].<ref name="ICEObit" /> Additionally, he was a member and in 1957 president of the [[Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=Garth |title=The Smeatonians: The Society of Civil Engineers |date=1989 |publisher=Thomas Telford |location=London |page=171 |isbn=9780727715265}}</ref>

== Second World War military service ==
Robertson had been appointed to the [[Militia#The Special Reserve|Supplementary Reserve]] as a major on 19 November 1924 and ceased to belong to that unit exactly four years later.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32994|date=18 November 1924 |page=8344}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33446|date=11 December 1928 |page=8172}}</ref> His military career was revived on 26 February 1938 when he was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the [[Engineer and Railway Staff Corps]], a voluntary part-time unit supporting the British Army.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34487 |date=25 February 1938 |page=1263}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] on 8 May 1940 and later served as commanding officer of the unit, until 1 January 1956.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=40700 |supp=y |date=31 January 1956 |page=680 }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34843 |supp=y |date=3 May 1940 |page=2706 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{NPG name}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-npo|pro}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jonathan Davidson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers|President]] of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] |years=November 1949 – November 1950}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Glanville]]}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-vac|unknown}}
{{s-ttl|title=Officer Commanding,<br>[[Engineer and Railway Staff Corps]] |years=Until 1956}}
{{s-aft|after= Col. [[John Elliot (railway manager)|Sir John Elliot]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Engineering |portal3= England}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Vernon}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:London Scottish soldiers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British civil engineers]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:People educated at Dover College]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]

Vernon Robertson - Revision history

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