Ian was born in Liverpool in October 1893, the son of John MacDonald Campbell and his wife Elizabeth Doig (née Moore). Both his parents were born in Scotland, Father John MacDonald was in Thurso, Caithness in 1859 and his mother Elizabeth was born in Crail, Fife in 1863. They were married on the 3rd October, 1889 in St George's Church, Edinburgh. Before Ian’s birth they lived in Albany Road, Kensington, Liverpool; his father was a coal agent. Ian had two older siblings, Margaret (Maggie), born in 1890 and Archibald (Archie) in 1892.
His father died at the age of 36, in 1897, when Ian was three years old. His mother remarried to Donald McLean in 1898 and had two children, John and Bessie.
In 1901 the family is living at 46 Albany Road. His stepfather, also born in Scotland, is 28, a local sanitary inspector, his mother is 35, Margaret is 10, Archibald 9, and Ian is 7. His half brother John is 10 months old.
The 1911 Census finds the family are still living at 46 Albany Road. His stepfather now aged 38, is an inspector for Corporation Tramways, his mother is 45, Maggie is 20, a cafe assistant, Archie, 19, is a marine engineer’s apprentice, and Ian is 17, a junior clerk in a flour mill. His half siblings John, 10, and Bessie, 9, are at school.
Ian enlisted in Liverpool on the 09th November 1914, as Private 21713, joining the 20th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment, giving his age as 21 years and one month, and his occupation as steward. (Ian has not been found on crew lists.). He was described as being 5’ 5 and a half inches tall, weighing 116 lbs, with a sallow complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. He stated his religion as Presbyterian and his next of kin as his mother, Elizabeth Campbell (sic), of 46 Albany Road. He was posted to the 19th (Pals) Battalion the same day.
Formed on 07th September 1914 the 19th Battalion trained locally at Sefton Park and remained living at home or in rented accommodation until November 1914. They then moved to the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 19th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain.
Whilst training at Knowsley Park, near Liverpool, and at Belton Park in Lincolnshire, he was absent from tattoo, absent without leave on a number of occasions. He was confined to barracks for each offence.
Whilst on leave from training in Lincolnshire, he married Gertrude May Mowatt on 15th July 1915 in West Derby Register Office. Their son, Stanley Mowatt McLaren Campbell, was born on 04th November 1915.
At Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain, in September, for overstaying his pass 109.5 hours, he was “remanded for C.O.”
Ian shipped to France with his battalion, disembarking at Boulogne on 07th November 1915.
His service record shows further disciplinary infractions in France:
30/11/1915 dirty mounting guard, awarded extra guard duty
23/12/1915 losing by neglect his identity disc, forfeited 4 days’ pay
22/2/1916 awarded 5 days Field Punishment No.1 for “Irregular conduct in getting on to exposed ground without orders”
Ian evidently mended his ways, as he was promoted:
07/8/1916 appointed paid Lance Corporal
20/9/1916 appointed Acting Corporal
17/02/1917 promoted Corporal
He was wounded in action on the first day of the Battle of Arras.
09/4/1917 gunshot wound left foot
29/4/1917 evacuated to U.K. on Hospital Ship St. Denis
30/4/1917 admitted to North Evington War Hospital, Leicester
30/5/1917 discharged
Reported wounded in the Liverpool Daily Post 11th May 1917 - Campbell 21713 Act. Cpl. I.M.
Whilst Ian was in the U.K. recuperating from his wounds, his son Stanley sadly died from acute meningitis in August 1917 at 21 months old. He was buried with Ian’s father in Anfield Cemetery.
24/10/1917 returned to France
?/12/1917 wounded, to Field Ambulance
18/12/1917 admitted 97th F.A. shrapnel wound buttocks
19/12/1917 to No.2 Casualty Clearing Station
20/12/1917 admitted No.14 General Hospital, Wimereux
?/12/1917 convalescent Depot, Boulogne
01/01/1918 Brigade Depot, Etaples
16/01/1918 rejoined unit, served in 4th Coy, 13th Platoon
Liverpool Echo on 15th January 1918:
“Mrs. Campbell, 119, Empress Road, has received news that her husband, Corporal J. (sic) M’L. Campbell, K.L.R., has been awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in action. He joined in November, 1914, and went to France with the first draft in November 1915, and has been twice wounded. Previous to enlistment he was employed in the victualling department of the Cunard Line.” (Ian’s name does not appear on the Cunard memorial.)
23/1/1918 granted leave to U.K.
9/2/1918 returned from leave
Ian was initially declared Missing between 22nd-28th March 1918.
The award of his Military Medal was published in the London Gazette on 10th April 1918.
His daughter Margaret was born on 17th April 1918, after her father’s death in action, but while his family was desperate for news.
His mother, at 25 Hereford Road, Wavertree, contacted the International Red Cross but was notified on 02nd July that they held no information on Ian. A second enquiry received the same response, on 6th September.
His death was later presumed, for official purposes as having occurred on 30th March 1918, aged 24, when he was serving as Corporal No 21713 during the German Spring Offensive.
As Graham Maddocks points out in his book The Liverpool Pals, the CWGC records 38 men of the 19th Bn of The King’s Liverpool Regiment as killed in action on 30th March 1918 when as the Battalion diary below, shown in bold type, records that the men were actually out of the line and safely on the way to St Valery- sur- Somme.
The composite battalion moved off from ROUVREL at 8.30 am at 50 yards interval between companies, arriving at SALEUX at 3.20 pm where they entrained, detraining at ST. VALERY-SUR-SOMME the same night. The night was spent at ST. VALERY-SUR-SOMME.
Apart from those whose bodies were not found and are commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial all but two have burial sites at Savy British Cemetery, which itself is within a couple of miles of Roupy and contains most of the identified men killed on 22nd March 1918. Therefore, it would appear that the date of death for these men shown as 30th March 1918 is purely an arbitrary one and that they were in fact killed on 22nd March.
Ian is commemorated in Savy British Cemetery, France, where a Special Kipling Memorial reads
"To the Memory of these 68 British Soldiers who were killed in action in March 1918 and buried at the time in the German Cemetery on the St. Quentin - Roupy Road, whose graves are now lost.”
The inscription on his headstone reads:
“A NOBLE SACRIFICE”
Savy was taken by the 32nd Division on the 1st April 1917, after hard fighting, and Savy Wood on the 2nd. On the 21st March 1918 Savy and Roupy were successfully defended by the 30th Division, but the line was withdrawn after nightfall. The village and the wood were retaken on the 17th September 1918 by the 34th French Division, fighting on the right of the British IX Corps.
Savy British Cemetery was made in 1919, and the graves from the battlefields and from the following small cemeteries in the neighbourhood were concentrated into it.
There are now over 850, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, more than half are unidentified. Memorials are erected in the cemetery to 68 soldiers (chiefly of the 19th King's Liverpools and the 17th Manchesters), buried by the Germans in their cemetery on the St. Quentin-Roupy road, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.
The Cemetery covers an area of 2,555 square metres and is enclosed by a low rubble wall.
Ian earned his three medals.
In January 1920 Gertrude received his personal belongings: 1 identity disc. She wrote to acknowledge receipt,
“Dear Sir, I am in receipt of the identity disc of my late husband, 21713 Cpl Ian McLaren Campbell MM, and I should be very grateful to you if you could forward me any particulars concerning him, such as the place his death occurred, etc.”
No response is recorded in his papers.
His widow Gertrude was awarded a pension of £1-1s-8d for herself and child from December 1918. She received Ian’s Army effects and a War Gratuity of £20-10s.
His brother Archie had a son in 1919 he called Ian McLaren. His stepfather Donald McLean (the only father Ian ever knew) died in 1936.
In 1939 his mother Elizabeth is still living at 25 Hereford Road with daughter Bessie McLean. Elizabeth lived to see another world war, and died in 1948 aged 85.
His widow Gertrude never remarried. In 1939 she is living with her brother Stanley Mowatt at 80 Renville Road, Liverpool. She died in 1985, at the age of 91.
His daughter Margaret went on to work for the Liverpool Savings Bank which later became the Trustee Savings Bank at the Branch at Penny Lane in Liverpool. She married the bank branch manager, William A Snowdon who was older than Margaret and who was educated at the Bluecoat School in Liverpool. Most of Bill Snowden's working life was spent at the Trustee Savings Bank in Penny Lane, and it is said that he was the Bank Manager in the Beatles song Penny Lane. Margaret and Bill lived at 10 Court Hey Drive, Huyton with Roby, Liverpool,L16 2ND, Margaret's mother Gertrude May lived with them until she died. They both retired from the TSB when Bill was sixty five.
Sadly, Ian has not been found on any memorial.
Grateful thanks are extended to Derek Bird for the family information concerning Ian's daughter Margaret. If Derek could contact us again it would be appreciated as I have tried to reply but the email address keeps bouncing back as undeliverable.
