Pentland Road - 2

During my recent perusal of personnel records of the Australian Imperial Forces in the First World War, I happened across several servicemen who are not mentioned in Loyal Lewis Roll of Honour 1914-1918. They were: Archibald Matheson Mccallum was born on 30 August 1896 to Archibald Mccallum and Elizabeth Matheson. Archibald Sr was schoolmaster at Balallan, but moved away from Lewis in 1898. Archibald Jr joined the Australian Imperial Forces in 1915, and served in France until 1917, when he was discharged due to severe thyroid problems. Archibald Jr returned to Australia, where he lived until his death in 1959 (or thereabouts). Archibald Sr is quoted as having two children (DJ and Christina), but it would appear that Archibald Jr is in fact a third child. William Arthur Bawden was born on 10 February 1895,  a son of Samuel and Sarah Ann of Cromwell Street, Stornoway. Samuel Bawden was a Coastguard. His son emigrated to Australia, and signed up for the AIF on 3 April 1...

Archibald Matheson Mccallum was born on 30 August 1896 to Archibald Mccallum and Elizabeth Matheson. Archibald Sr was schoolmaster at Balallan, but moved away from Lewis in 1898. Archibald Jr joined the Australian Imperial Forces in 1915, and served in France until 1917, when he was discharged due to severe thyroid problems. Archibald Jr returned to Australia, where he lived until his death in 1959 (or thereabouts). Archibald Sr is quoted as having two children (DJ and Christina), but it would appear that Archibald Jr is in fact a third child.

William Arthur Bawden, referred to in the previous post , does not qualify for a CWGC war grave. He died on 5 September 1920 at the age of 25, having hanged himself. The magisterial inquiry showed that no indication of his state of mind was evident beforehand. We shall never know what did prompt William to take his own life. His death was not attributable to his war service, but that does not mean we will forget his valiant contribution. RIP.

On 10 February 1895, William Arthur Bawden was born to Samuel and Sarah Ann of Cromwell Street, Stornoway. Samuel Bawden was a Coastguard. His son emigrated to Australia, and signed up for the AIF on 3 April 1915 at Rainbow in the state of Victoria. He was a farm labourer, later munitions worker. William saw active service, but developed pneumonia during the autumn of 1917. This left him permanently incapacitated, and he was repatriated to Australia in February 1918. In spite of his poor physical condition, William tried to sign up again in August 1918, but was turned down. He died in 1920 - presumably (but not confirmed) of his illness. If I manage to trace his death record, it will give me confirmation of the cause of death and thereby whether this was service related. If this turns out to be the case, William Bawden may be entered on the CWGC records. For now, I remember him for his service to King and Country between 1915 and 1918. 

A chance search turned up another serviceman from Lewis, who had seen action during the First World War. His name is not on the Roll of Honour for his village, Eoropie. Murdoch Mackenzie, a 34-year old sailor, joined up at Claremont, Tasmania, Australia, on 15 June 1916. He was sent to Europe two months later and saw action with the 15th battalion Australian Imperial Forces. He was wounded in action on 23 August 1918. After peace was declared, he returned to Australia and was discharged, medically unfit, on 23 July 1919. Murdoch was the brother of Donald and Dugald; the latter was killed in action in 1915. His father was John Mackenzie of 36 Eoropie.

I am currently researching those men from Lewis who served in the First World War from Australia. One of them survived the ordeal and returned to Australia after being discharged as medically unfit. After the end of the war, he received his King's certificate to say he had served in the Great War. The man involved subsequently moved house, and in the usual clear-up at such a time burned some papers. One of those (gulp) was his King's Certificate. He promptly applied for a replacement - which was sent out to him. Can you imagine what that must have been like for him? I couldn't.