Teenager and his comrades buried in shelter collapse

A Dunblane teenager, who had been in France a short time, was killed when the shelter he was in was blown up by an enemy shell. Pte Robert Thomas Stewart, Black Watch, and three comrades were buried beneath the rubble on the night of October 17, 1918. According to letters from an officer and chaplain sent to his mother, Mrs Stewart of the Railway Hotel, Dunblane, every effort was made to dig the men out. However, Pte Stewart, who was just days short of his 20th birthday, was found to be dead. He had only been in France for a short time. Pte Stewart was buried with full military honours in a British cemetery behind the lines.

*** Kippen soldier Sgt John Gray, a former apprentice gardener at Boquhan, was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal. He had been in France for three years and was the second soldier from the village to receive the honour. At the time of his enlistment he was working as a journeyman gardener at Harvieston, Dollar.

*** There was tragedy in Bannockburn when a soldier died from influenza and ‘double pneumonia’ while on leave there. Cpl JS Campbell was laid to rest at Bannockburn Cemetery with full military honours. Villagers lined the streets to pay their respects. Cpl Campbell joined the army’s Motor Team shortly after the start of the war and had served in France for three years. He had before worked with his grandfather, Mr James Campbell, bus proprietor.‘Stevie’as he was known was, said the Observer, liked by everyone who knew him became of his quiet and kindly disposition.

*** Robert Kirk, son of Mr William Kirk, Ashbank, Drymen, suffered a leg wound in the fighting. He enlisted in the Scottish Horse at the start of the war and served in the East. He later went to France where he was wounded. The Observer said he was “progressing favourably”.

*** Kippen soldier Cpl James Ferguson, formerly a cattleman at Boquhan, was awarded the Military Medal. He was a member of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and saw service in France and Italy.

*** Home on leave in Kippen from the Le Cateau Front in France was Sgt Hugh Thomson, A&SH. Villagers there were heartened by the news that another soldier from the area, Pte Duncan McArthur, had not been as seriously wounded as first thought.