Private died instantly after shell exploded

Letters of sympathy were received by Mr P Cook, Ballengeich Cottages, Stirling, after he learned from the War Office that his son had died at the Front.

Robert Cook, a private in the Royal Scots, was thought to have been killed instantly on December 2, 1916, after a shell exploded near him.

The 21-year-old joined the Army Service Corp in September 1914 before volunteering to be drafted into the Royal Scots.

He had for a number of years worked as a butcher with W&J Cullen, Baker Street, Stirling, and his father – who worked in the Army Ordnance Department at Forthside – was a former Colour Sergeant and instructor with the A&SH.

In a letter to Mr Cook, 2ndLt Norman Kennedy said his son’s burial was conducted by a chaplain, while 2nd-Lt F Bryden added that they were in a “particularly dangerous part of the line” when Pte Cook was killed.

“He was with me in the trenches and, by virtue of the knowledge which I gained of him there, I know how deeply grieved you will be to lose him,” said 2nd-Lt Bryden.

“He was a very efficient soldier and his loss is felt very much by officers and men of the battery.

“All we people out here hope is that should we be killed our people will be able to console themselves by saying as Casimer said: ‘To have worked and died for England, is it ill done for so short a life? By my faith, no! I shall make my bow to my ancestors without shame.’”