John Gartshore Stark

Died of Wounds on the 23/01/1918 as a POW in Germany. Taken Prisoner during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (part of the 3rd Battles of Ypres / Passchendaele). Wounds received on the 01/08/1917

John and the Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 09/07/1915 and were part of the 45th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division. John was taken Prisoner of War on the 01/08/1917. This was the 2nd day of the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, 31st July - 2nd August 1917. This was part of the Battles of Ypres (Third Ypres), 31st July - 10th November 1917 : The British finally got what they had wanted since 1914 : the opportunity to attack at Ypres and breakout of the confines of the salient of trenches around it. Often known as the Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele, the offensive began with encouraging gains but terrible summer weather soon bogged it down. By August the offensive was clearly failing in its objectives and had descended into attritional fighting. New techniques by both sides led to agonisingly slow forward movement for the British, at enormous cost in casualties to both sides. Bad weather in October led to the battlefield becoming an impossible quagmire. John died in German hands at Reserve Lazarette, Bergkaserne, Munster, Germany. John is listed as having an alias on his Army Register of Soldiers Effects. His alias is J.G Waddell. As John arrived in France in July 1915 and died in Germany in 1918 the change in surname may have been because of his age when he enlisted. John was a well-known golfer at Carntyne, Shettleston. He is also remembered on the Coatbridge Technical College Roll of Honour and on the Stirling War Memorial (see photos x 2). See photos for John's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clipping, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects x 2, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his Headstone Report, Cologne Southern Cemetery and the Cameron Highlanders Cap Badge.