This centenary year will see thousands of people travelling to the First World War cemeteries and memorials of France and Belgium to remember family members dead and the missing.

Eddy Robinson, his wife Bea, their grandson and cousins from the United States, for example, will be among them. They are going to visit the grave of great uncle Willie Robinson who was killed in Belgium on July 19, 1917 and is buried in Perth Cemetery, known as the China Wall, Zillebeke.

Eddy and his family live in the Bradford area. The desire to visit Willie Robinson’s grave and to try to find out more about his life and times may have been prompted by the fact that Eddy’s grandfather Tom did not speak about his brother Willie until Eddy was in his early 30s.

In 1996, Eddy’s late father Bob left a short hand-written memo with a photograph of Willie smartly attired in a shirt with a rounded collar, tie and suit.

This is what Bob Robinson wrote about ‘Uncle Willie’: “He played football for the Baildon Woodbottom football team. Playing one day an agent from Carlisle football team spotted him, and he was asked to play for them. I understand he accepted and did so until he volunteered for the Army in 1915.

“The Army found out about his record as a footballer and an officer came to him and said, ‘We are putting you into the Army team, so you will never go to France, lad.’ “In the last match he played for the Army he had an injury, a broken big toe. This was the finish to any footballer’s career in those days and within a week he was in the front line, another week and he was dead. So much for Army promises.”

Willie Robinson, service number 480226, was a signaller in the Royal Engineers. Bob Robinson surmised that his uncle was killed between Zillebeke and Ypres at a hazardous place known as Hellfire Corner.

He concluded his note: “My father didn’t like to talk about him, it upset him too much.”

Eddy Robinson has been unable, so far, to find out anything more about Willie Robinson’s football career, other than he was 'spotted' playing for Woodbottom, “in the long gone Baildon Bridge football ground”

Eddy and his family would be interested to know more. He can be contacted at eddysmachine@sky.com.