HAMILL, John 1
- Born: 27 July 1890 at 3.45 pm, Briggate, Chapelhall, Lanarkshire, Scotland 1
- Died: 16 May 1917, 142 Field Ambulance, France 2
- Buried: 1917, Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France
Cause of his death was wounds sustained in battle.
Another name for John was HAMMILL, John.3
User ID: K991.
General Notes:
John was 8 months of age when he was recorded in the 1891 census living at Briggate Road, Chapelhall, in the district of Holytown. He had been born in Bothwell parish where he was now living, and he was the first child of the marriage of James and Mary Hammill. He had four older half brothers and sisters.
In 1901 John Hammill was recorded by the census, living at Bo'ness Road, Chapelhall. The entry recorded his birthplace as Chapelhall, and his age as 10 years. He was a scholar. His father had died in 1896.
In the 1911 census John was not recorded as living at his mother's home in Main Street, Chapelhall, though his two full brothers and two half-brothers were.
In 1917 John died of his wounds, on a Wednesday in May, in the France and Flanders theatre of war of the First World War. Born in the parish of Bothwell, resident at Chapelhall, Airdrie, he had enlisted at Hamilton and was a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery, 241 Siege Battery, gunner number 73695. He was 26 years old, though, in his death certificate, he was listed as 27 years old at his last birthday. 2 3
Research Notes:
CEMETERY AT ARRAS
Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery is in the western part of the town of Arras in the Boulevard du General de Gaulle, near the Citadel, approximately two kilometres due west of the railway station.
The French handed over Arras to Commonwealth forces in the spring of 1916. The system of tunnels upon which the town is built were used and developed in preparation for the major offensive planned for April 1917. The Commonwealth section of the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery was begun in March 1916, behind the French military cemetery established earlier. It continued to be used by field ambulances and fighting units until November 1918. The cemetery was enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields and from two smaller cemeteries in the vicinity. The cemetery contains 2,650 Commonwealth burials of the First World War.
ROYAL GARRISON ARTILLERY
The RGA was responsible for the heavy, large calibre guns and howitzers that were positioned some way behind the front line.
RGA SIEGE BATTERIES
These were the largest guns and howitzers, manned by the Royal Garrison Artillery. They were mounted on railways, or on massive fixed concrete emplacements, and were consequently rather immobile.
|
