The CCGS Private Robertson V.C., the first of nine new Canadian Coast Guard vessels named for fallen Canadian heroes, has been dedicated at the Irving Shipyards in Halifax.

The vessels are named in memory of members of the Coast Guard, department of fisheries, R.C.M.P. and Canadian Forces, most of whom died in the line of duty. A list of others honoured is available on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website.

James Peter Robertson was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery in battle and saving several comrades’ lives.  Robertson, who was born at Albion Mines, N.S., but moved with his family to Medicine Hat, Alta., was a member of the 27^th Battalion of the Canadian infantry (Manitoba Regiment). He was  killed in the final assault at Passchendaele, Nov. 6, 1917.

His platoon was trapped by barbed wire under machine-gun fire when “Robertson dashed to an opening on the flank, rushed the machine gun and, after a desperate struggle with the crew, killed four and then turned the gun on the remainder,” says the  Victoria Cross citation, which can be seen on the National Defence/Canadian Forces website. Robertson led surviving platoon members to the final objective.  He was killed carrying a wounded Canadian sniper to safety.

The other new vessels are expected to be dedicated by 2013.

Private James Robertson, VC is also one of nearly 100 Canadian VC recipients commemorated in Legion Magazine’s two-part Canada and the Victoria Cross poster series appearing in the November/December 2011 and January/February 2012 issues. The November/December issue is currently on newsstands.