Terence Robinson has died aged 98 after a short illness. Dubbed the 'Mr Coca-Cola' of Northern Ireland after the successful family run bottling business he helped grow, he was a well known and respected member of the Northern Ireland business community.
Born in Belfast in 1918, he was educated from a young age in Kendal, and later Harpenden, before moving to London to commence a career as a comis chef. During this time he played rugby for the Saracens' first XV.
On the outbreak of war he volunteered for the Royal Navy, serving initially as an Ordinary Seaman on the Tribal-class destroyer Cossack under her captain, Philip Vian, later to become Admiral Vian, commander of naval forces during Operation Neptune and the D-Day landings.
He then underwent officer training, and in August 1942 was appointed first Lieutenant of ML 147, based in Lowestoft. He was awarded a Royal Humane Society’s Testimonial on Vellum after jumping into the North Sea in rough weather to rescue a man overboard.
In April 1943 he was made Temporary Lieutenant in command of MGB 660, part of the 20th MGB Flotilla operating in the Mediterranean, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for "marked courage, skill and resource whilst serving in Light Coastal Forces, in a successful attack on heavily armed enemy barges off the Istrian Coast".
Temporary Lieutenant Terence Robinson RNVR, born 22 April, 1918, died 12 August, 2016
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