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 Card (see below) bears the 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 (aka 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.
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.
Charles Atholl Stewart was unlikely to have been one of them, since the record states that he
died of his wounds almost 7 weeks later. How did he die?
The Battalion’s War Diary has recently (2025) become available online.
It notes that on 13 November 1915, 2 Companies were in the old British Front Line and support trenches,
probably near the Bethune/Lens road, as shown on the map. Another Company was in billets at Philosophe,
while the forth Company was in billets at Vermelles. Charles’s Company is not known, but it is thought
to have been one of the two in the trenches, because of what was related next. 3
Charlie died at an Advanced Dressing Station. But which one?
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 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.
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 -
On the evening of 22 October, the Battalion had
marched into Solesmes by crossing assault bridges
erected over the swollen River Selle and settled into
comfortable billets.
A defensive front had been established by 62 Division on 20 October on flat ground that slopes down to the
village of Romeries. See
map of
Romeries and district.
Around 12:30am on 23 October, the British put down “a very heavy barrage in front of Romeries”.
The enemy reply was very heavy, especially on the exits from Solesmes, causing a considerable
number of casualties, including A Company’s Commanding Officer. After a reorganisation,
“facilitated by the lightness of the night”, a few more casualties were suffered from enemy shellfire.
At 3:20am, B and D Companies (it is not known which was Kenneth’s Company), advanced
under cover of the barrage. B Company reached its objective and A Company did so later,
having encountered more opposition. D Company was held up by intense fire from the cemetery
and orchard and advanced a “considerable cost”. To the north, the River Selle at Haspres was a considerable obstacle,
because the bridge had been blown up. Eventually, 3 platoons of C Company got to the NE bank.
Captain Beveridge, commanding D Company, was killed by gunfire from a house in the village.
Sergeant Lawson, the new commander, used prisoners to screen an advance on the house and silence the guns.
The Report, by the Battalion’s Commanding Officer, Lt Col W Fraser, says that, “resistance was
very determined at certain points, both in front of the village and in the village itself,
but on the whole the enemy surrendered easily.”
By 9am, the Diary says, the Gordons had “attacked and took Romeries” and were organising their billets.
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?
By 8am, 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.
14 November was a wet day when nothing was reported.
On 15 November, while saps were being dug out from the front line, the enemy shelled it and the support
trenches.
4 men were Killed and 6 men Wounded. 3 men Died of Wounds.
It is likely that Charles Atholl Stewart was one of these three.
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.
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.
The nearest ADS to the front line trenches 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.
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 -
William Kenneth Stewart must have lost his life in one of the attacks related in the Diary.
He was Killed in Action on 23 October 1918.
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.
