The theatre as a war memorial

The Charlie Robbins Story

Charlie Robbins and his brother, James, worked at J W Singer & Sons before the War and both enlisted in August 1914.

Both survived the War and returned to work at Singer’s, Charlie remaining in Frome until his death in 1981. Charlie was the model for a Singers WW1 soldier casting. This remained outside the factory on Marston Trading Estate.

Agreement was reached with Tyco (owners of Singers) to relocate the statue to a plinth outside of the Memorial Theatre.

The determination and influence of Angela Yeoman, a great supporter of the theatre, was required to ensure that ‘Charlie’ could be relocated to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of World War I. The dedication on 3rd August 2014 heralded the start of four years of commemoration.

Remembrance Sunday

The Memorial Theatre is the centre of Remembrance in Frome and hosts the Remembrance service for the Royal British Legion (RBL).

The theatre h

as always been linked with the RBL from the opening by the president, General Sir Ian Hamilton in 1925 to the present day.

The Bronze memorial tablets, with the names of the fallen, made by Singers here in Frome, were unveiled on the Remembrance Sunday of 1925.

These have been added to with a tablets listing those who fell in WWII and the Falklands War in 1982. The statue of Charlie Robbins stands proudly at the front of the theatre as a focal point for the Remembrance parade.