Historian brings untold story of forgotten First World War hero to life

T H E u ntold stor y of a “forgotten” First World War hero has come to light in Angus.

Local historian Patrick Anderson has been researching Private Robert Lee whose name is among 11 on a war memorial on a surviving churchyard wall within the ruins of Kirkden Parish in Letham.

Pte Lee has no known grave after being killed in action in Belgium aged 35.

He has now been brought in from the cold after his name was added to the Scottish National War Memorial Index in Edinburgh.

Born in Campsie in Stirlingshire in 1880, Pte Lee’s father John was the headmaster at Kirkden School in Letham.

Pte Lee, who had tattoos of a woman on his right forearm and a small man on the left side of his neck, joined the Seaforth Highlanders in 1899 for three years before emigrating to Canada where he worked as a locomotive fitter.

He enlisted with the 23rd Reserve Battalion in January 1915 and sailed from Halifax to England where he was transferred to Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI).

It was a short war for Pte Lee. He crossed from Southampton to France on April 7.

He saw action at the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Frezenberg.

Pte Lee was killed in action in trenches near Bellewaarde Lake following a bayonet charge on May 8.

It was a bad day for the PPCLI in terms of casualties with only 150 men and four officers out of 700 remaining at the end of the day.

The Battle of Frezenberg gave the regiment its unofficial motto of “Holding up the whole damn line”.

Senior army officer Sir John French, the 1st Earl of Ypres, was fulsome in his praise for the regiment’s efforts.

He said: “You held on to your trenches in the most magnificent manner under a more severe bombardment than has ever been known, and in doing so you have been of the greatest assistance to operations which the British Army was carrying out at the time... you prevented the Germans from obtaining an objective which it was very necessary for them to obtain.

“They wanted to take Ypres, and to be able to tell the whole of Europe and America that they had taken Ypres, and if they had done so this would have done us a lot of harm.

“This might have had the effect of keeping neutral countries out of the war.”

Sir Samuel Hughes, the Canadian minister of militia and defence, described Pte Lee as a “worthy citizen and heroic soldier”.

In a letter to his family, Sir Samuel said: “While one can not too deeply mourn the loss of such a brave comrade, there is consolation in the knowing that he did his duty fearlessly and well and gave his life for the cause of liberty and the uplifting of the Empire.”

When the guns fell silent his father was sent his son’s war medals.

These included the 1914-15 Star and also the Memorial Plaque – known as the Death Penny – and scroll signed by the King.

The family also received the Canadian Memorial Cross which was issued to mothers of war dead in the Canadian forces.

Mr Anderson later discovered that Pte Lee has no known grave and he is listed on the Ypres Memorial in Belgium to the missing.

He submitted his file to the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle and Pte Lee has now been accepted as a casualty of the First World War among the Scots who served in other Canadian units.

“I am so pleased to know that Pte Lee has been added to the roll of honour at the Scottish National War Memorial within Edinburgh Castle,” said Mr Anderson.