Robert Harold Cromie was born in New Castle, Lawrence, PA, USA, to Robert and Anna Beck Cromie. He worked in the tin mill in New Castle, along with his father and brothers. In August of 1914, he is listed in a New Castle News story as having been stationed at Fort Totten in NY with Coastal Defenses. We have been able to find no official record of this service.

His obituary also indicates he enlisted with Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914 and served four years in France, followed by one year in occupied Germany. This seems to follow family history, which also adds that he was gassed in the trenches, and suffered permanent nerve damage, which causes one half of his body to sweat profusely, while the other was completely dry.

Since we have been able to find absolutely no official records of any of his service, we have assumed he served under an assumed name. He died after a fall at his brother's residence in New Castle, where he was living. The cause of death may have been related to his having been gassed, but he never filed any claims we know about, either with US or Canadian governments.