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Robin (Rob) Hugh Buddle Atkinson was born on the 7th October 1928 to Ronald (Bud) Buddle Atkinson & Francis Mary Muir at Ellsmere in Shropshire, England. He and his older sister Avice Muriel had a troubled childhood with their parents separating when Robin was only five years old.  Francis suffered terribly from Rheumatoid & Osteo Arthritis and was unable to look after the children, so Rob & Avice went to boarding school; Rob went to school where his father taught, but was a boarder.  This must have been very hard for him to deal with.

Upon leaving school in June 1946, having just achieved his "A" levels he immediately joined the Army.  He was the first of the family ever to have entered the service without first passing through Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. He did however work very hard and went to Sandhurst in 1948 and graduated as a Second Lieutenant.

Rob served in Germany immediately after the war and these times were probably the period that shaped his further troubles as he would have seen terrible sights such as the exhumation of mass graves at concentration camps.  He had a gentle nature and these sights obviously played very heavily on him for the rest of his life. Following his time in Sandhurst, where he studied Hydraulic Engineering, he returned to Germany to assist in the rebuilding projects under way there.  We have no doubt he enjoyed a beer or two and he had an impressive collection of German beer mugs. Some of which are still with us today, despite numerous parties after which we are told, many of his beer mugs were "nicked".

He also served in the Middle East for the UN during the annexation of Israel & for the UK in the Suez Conflict of 1956. He also served in Korea during the Korean War (The Forgotten War) of 1950 - 1953.  He retired from active service in 1960, having attained the rank of Major.

Following his retirement, he emigrated to Australia as a free settler.  He landed in Sydney and three hours later had his first civilian job.  He had a variety of jobs while he travelled and explored Australia, the country he was to call home for the rest of his life. After a whirlwind romance and a short engagement, on the 25th July, 1968, he married Juliet Taylor and they settled in Melbourne, Victoria.  They had two sons, Ross & Shane. In 1974 they returned to Julie's home state of Queensland, where they settled on the Sunshine Coast and Rob started and ran a number of small businesses before moving to the farming community of Woombye to grow avocadoes and strawberries. This is where he spent the rest of his days and also spent what we believe to be the happiest days of his life.

His sister Avice, who remained unmarried, emigrated to Australia in the late 1980's and together they became Australian citizens; though we can never recall him ever barracking for any country other than Australia, especially if they were playing the English.

Rob passed away on 30th July 2004 from a stroke after ongoing health issues.