Lieutenant Colonel S. G. Robertson
17th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalion
As a matter of fact Robertson was quite hopeless as a commanding officer. When I obliged to tell him so he made at least 3 answers in excuse all of which made me exclaim to him: ‘Why here, out of your own mouth, you more than ever convince me of your unfitness for command.”
(Gen. Alderson to Perley, 12 Mar 1915)
Struan Gordon Robertson was a Nova Scotia barrister and militia major. Born on 13 September 1868 in Bothwell, Scotland, he was a Conservative party activist and a candidate for the riding of Pictou. When the First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces organized at Valcartier in August 1914, Robertson assumed command of the 17th Battalion.