Pte 57398 Andrew Arthur Caldwell

• Age: 31
• From: Glasgow
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Friday 21st December 1917
• Commemorated at: Bedford House Cem Encl 4
  Panel Ref: Sp.Mem 21

Andrew Arthur Caldwell was born in Gorbals, Glasgow in 1886 the son of James Caldwell and his wife Agnes (nee Wilkie).

The 1891 Census finds the family living at 90 Abbotsford Place, Govan, Glasgow. Andrew is 4 years of age and he is living with his parents, his grandmother and younger brother. His father, James, is a 39 year old drapery warehouseman born in Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, whilst his mother is 35 years of ae and was born in Glasgow. His grandmother is recorded as Ann Wilkie, a 71 year old widow. His brother is recorded as Thomas W. aged 2. 

The 1901 Census finds the family have moved and are now resident at 11 Queens Park Avenue, Glasgow. His mother is head of the household, she is 46 years of age and states that she is married. Andrew is now a 14 year old schoolboy and he has three siblings who are listed as; Thomas W aged 12, David C. 9 and James B. 6. 

The 1911 Census for Scotland is not currently available. 

Andrew was the husband of Louisa Watson Caldwell (nee Dunbar) they married in 1913 and lived at 86 Dixon Avenue, Crosshill, Glasgow.

He enlisted in Glasgow joining the Lowland Division Cyclist Corps as Private 1207 before transferring to the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 57398.

He was reported wounded in the weekly casualty list on 18th September 1917.

He was killed in action on the 21st December 1917, aged 31, and is believed to be buried at Bedford House Cemetery in Belgium. He is commemorated on the Special Memorial 21 where his headstone bears the epitaph common to all Special Memorial headstones:

"THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT"

This epitaph was written by Rudyard Kipling

Zillebeke village and most of the commune were in the hands of Commonwealth forces for the greater part of the First World War, but the number of cemeteries in the neighbourhood bears witness to the fierce fighting in the vicinity from 1914 to 1918.

Bedford House, sometimes known as Woodcote House, were the names given by the Army to the Chateau Rosendal, a country house in a small wooded park with moats. Although it never fell into German hands, the house and the trees were gradually destroyed by shell fire. It was used by field ambulances and as the headquarters of brigades and other fighting units, and charcoal pits were dug there from October 1917.

In time, the property became largely covered by small cemeteries; five enclosures existed at the date of the Armistice, but the graves from No.1 were then removed to White House Cemetery, St. Jean, and those from No.5 to Aeroplane Cemetery, Ypres.

ENCLOSURE No.2 was begun in December 1915, and used until October 1918. After the Armistice, 437 graves were added, all but four of which came from the Ecole de Bienfaisance and Asylum British Cemeteries, both at Ypres.

ENCLOSURE No.3, the smallest, was used from February 1915 to December 1916; the burials made in August-October 1915 were largely carried out by the 17th Division.

ENCLOSURE No.4, the largest, was used from June 1916 to February 1918, largely by the 47th (London) Division, and after the Armistice it was enlarged when 3,324 graves were brought in from other burial grounds and from the battlefields of the Ypres Salient. Almost two-thirds of the graves are unidentified.

ENCLOSURE No.6 was made in the 1930s from the graves that were continuing to be found on the battlefield of the Ypres Salient. This enclosure also contains Second World War burials, all of them soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force, who died in the defence of the Ypres-Comines canal and railway at the end of May 1940. The canal lies on high ground on the west side of the cemetery.

Commonwealth casualties buried in the following smaller cemeteries were either concentrated into Bedford House Cemetery after the war or if lost, are now commemorated in Bedford House Cemetery.

In all, 5,139 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War are buried or commemorated in the enclosures of Bedford House Cemetery. 3,011 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials commemorate a number of casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials name casualties buried in other cemeteries whose graves could not be found on concentration. Second World War burials number 69 (3 of which are unidentified). There are 2 Germans buried here.

The cemetery was designed by W.C. Von Berg.

Soldiers effects and pension to his widow, Louisa. 

We currently have no further information on Andrew Arthur Caldwell, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.