DRIVER ROBERT CHRISTMAS YAXLEY
ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY
1ST MAY 1917 AGE 36
BURIED: DUISANS BRITISH CEMETERY, ETRUN, FRANCE
It's the words "except I drink it" that are the most chilling - these are Christ's words in the Garden of Gethsemane, St Matthew 26:42. Christ knows that the only way the terrible future that is in store for him can be overcome, can 'pass away', is by going through with it, through with his betrayal, his flogging and his crucifixion. There is no other way. In the same way that soldiers had no alternative but to stand and face whatever was in store for them, and the next-of-kin were forced to 'drink' the bitter cup that was given to them.
Robert Yaxley, a railway platelayer, served with the 45th Battery, 42nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery and died of wounds in a Casualty Clearing Station at Duisans. His mother, Anne Yaxley, a widow, chose his inscription.