Kirkcudbright History Society looking for help to identify chaplain who helped World War One soldier
dailyrecord.co.ukKirkcudbright History Society regularly receives requests for help from all over the world – many from people trying to trace their family history – but occasionally there is an intriguing enquiry that requires a little more detective work than usual.
One such was from a researcher in London who had found a very moving letter of condolence to the cousin of an officer missing, believed killed, in the Somme.
Written by Ben, a fellow soldier, it was addressed to a Miss Edith Montgomery at an address in Cheshire. The letter expresses the writer’s sympathy on the loss of “poor old Bertie” and goes on to reassure the family of how bravely Bertie had led his troops: “I need hardly say that Bertie was absolutely magnificent and everyone who saw him said he was absolutely fearless and behaved as if shells and bullets were thousands of miles away.
He led his company as if he was on parade and when they were all forced to retire he called his men again and led them to the attack a second time.” He goes on to talk of the search for Bertie: “We have absolutely no news at all of him altho’ I myself and also our chaplain who comes from Kirkcudbright have been all over the country to try and get information about him from dressing and casualty clearing stations but with no luck at all and really Edith I honestly can’t hold out any great hope at all.” The researcher had written to ask if the history society could provide more information on the soldier, identified by her as Hugh Bertram Montgomery, born in Kirkcudbright.
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