Charles Atholl
Stewart (Charlie) - 1884 to 1915
Charles was born on
All that is known of Charles is that he was
considered to be the best-looking member of the family:
Charles Atholl Stewart (1894-1915)
At the outbreak of war, Charlie enlisted as Private No. S/3276, in the 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. The prefix ‘S’ indicates that
he was attached to one of the new service units. It is likely that he would
have undergone 6 to 8 months training, perhaps in
The Medal Card (see below) bears the rather bald
Died in
the Remarks column.
His Army file at the National Archives of Scotland is entitled:
Will of S/3276 or 3276 Private Charles Stewart, 8th Bn., Seaforth Highlanders, Cause of death:
Died of Wounds, No 15 Advance Dressing Station, Theatre:
France and Flanders, 15 Nov 1915
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records his name as Charles Athole (sic) Stewart, his age at death as 21, and a reference to his memorial
at Loos-en-Gohelle.
The Loos Memorial was constructed on the site of Dud Corner (or the Lens Road Redoubt),
only 800 yards from the HQ of the 15th Division.
This
information raises some interesting questions:
1 If Charlie was injured and Died of Wounds at an Advanced Dressing Station (ADS), he could reasonably
be expected to have a grave.
The Loos Memorial contains a large number of inscribed panels arranged by Regiment.
They commemorate 20,633 officers and men who have no known grave but who fell in the Loos sector,
mostly in 1915.
So, why didn't Charlie have a grave? In the chaos that was the Western Front, did his body go missing?
2 The 8th Battalion Seaforth
Highlanders was under the command of the 44th Brigade, itself a unit
of the 15th (Scottish) Division. The Brigade's HQ was close to the southeast-facing
trenches of the front line, about 800 yards northwest of the large German defensive position known
as the Lens Road Redoubt, which was attacked and captured by the 15th Division on 25 September 1915.
By 8 am, the troops were in control of the village of Loos, and were marching on Hill 70, to the southeast.
Later that morning, they were pinned down on Hill 70 and, in the afternoon, sustained heavy casualties near
Chalk Pit Copse. The next day, the Division continued the attack on Hill 70, but confused orders meant that the
British artillery shelled its own men.
In the afternoon, the 8th Seaforths, who were reduced to 35 men led by a single adjutant and a subaltern, were relieved.
The Battalion had lost 502 men and officers in the Battle of Loos.
Charles Atholl Stewart may have been among them.
But the record states that he died of his wounds on 15 November, almost 7 weeks later, when there was no
reported military action.
(The only other significant action in the Loos sector
took place from 9 to 12 October and did not involve the 15th Division.)
3 Charlie died at an Advanced Dressing Station. These mobile units were generally sited around 400 yards
behind the front line in custom-built sheds, ruined buildings, underground bunkers or anywhere that offered some protection
from shellfire. They could also be located in more substantial buildings: there was an ADS in the Mairie at Bully, near Loos,
and one in the damaged Chateau at Vermelles.
Died of Wounds was a term given to any seriously wounded man who died whilst receiving medical attention: it usually signified
a death away from the battlefield, in a Casualty Dressing Station or some other hospital away from the front line.
But if expedient, a wounded soldier might be taken to a convenient Dressing Station near the front line even if he was not
actively engaged in battle. The position of Charlie Stewart’s unit on
The positions of these two Advanced Dressing Stations were known and are overlain on the
troop deployment map of 25 September 1915.
Unfortunately they were not numbered, so there is no way of knowing where Charlie was taken.
This scenario does not, unfortunately, explain why there is no grave. In
his Soldier’s Will Charles Stewart bequeathed everything he possessed to his sister Elizabeth. William Kenneth Stewart
(Kenneth) - 1898 to 1918 Kenneth was born on It is not known when he enlisted as Private
No. #268933 in the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), although the family say
that he gave the wrong age to gain admission. If he volunteered before 1916,
proof of age was seldom required. However, official records do give his correct
age – 20 – at death.
In support of a later date of enlistment, his Medal Card (below) So, it seems likely that Kenneth joined up
between January and September 1916. At some stage, he transferred to the 1st
Battalion Gordon Highlanders as Private No. 235694. The Battalion was a unit of the 76th
Brigade from The Regimental Diary for the period shows that
the men spent the majority of their time away from the front lines. When they
were not marching between positions, their time was taken up with training,
drills and parades, sports competitions and church services and funerals (for
officers only). Getting to the baths was a particularly noteworthy event. Units
seem to have been frequently rotated so that nobody spent too long in the front
line trenches. Many of the entries relate to relieving other units, or being
relieved by them. At the front line, the unit would work on the trenches, go on
raids or prepare for an upcoming assault. In 1917 and 1918, the Battalion took part in
a number of engagements: 9 - 14 - 26 - 5th May & 19 - 20 May 1918 - at La Bassee Canal near Hinges 14 - 2 -
Kenneth was Killed
in Action on
On 23 October, the Gordons
went forward to this line, and “attacked and took Romeries”.
By
He is buried just up the road at the Romeries Communal Cemetery Extension. In
his Soldier’s Will he bequeathed all his belongings to his sister Elizabeth.
So, if he was not a casualty of the action, how did he die?
A battlefield casualty would typically be stretchered from a Regimental Aid Post on the front line to the nearest ADS, where his wounds
would be dressed. From there he would be shipped out by stretcher, by horse-drawn ambulance, by tramway or perhaps by motor
ambulance, to a Casualty Dressing Station several miles behind the front line. The most seriously injured would then be taken
to hospital or even evacuated to England.
Assuming the HQ of the 15th Division and its constituent battalions stayed where it had been
during the Battle of Loos, close to the original front line trenches to the north of the Lens road,
the nearest ADS would have been about 800 yards away at the pit heap known as Fosse 7,
which was at the end of a tramway from Philosophe.
Here there were shelters for 240 wounded men that provided protection from shell splinters and shrapnel fire.
Alternatively, the more substantial ADS at Quality Street was about 1000 yards away and provided
accommodation for 500 cases in 48 houses and cellars.
He was, it is theorised, wounded by sniper fire and rushed to the nearest Advanced Dressing Station, where he died.
shows that he was awarded only two medals, the Victory and the British. He did
not receive the Star Medal because it was discontinued after 26 -
