Company Sergeant Major Hugh Burns D.C.M. M.M.

Company Sergeant Major Hugh Burns D.C.M. M.M.

1st Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Service No: 8778

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Personal details

Family Information

Son of Mrs Mary McDonald of 76 Buchanan St, Coatbridge. Husband of Jeanie Burns (13/11/1891- ) of 46 Abercorn St, Glasgow. Hugh's 3 half-brothers also served. Private Bernard McDonald of the 1st Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers (6623) was Killed in Action 01/07/1916 on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme aged 19, Private Peter McDonald of the 1st Battalion Cameron Highlanders (9575) was Killed in Action 27/01/1915 at Cuinchy aged 21 and the 3rd half-brother James Henry McDonald (9474) of the 1st Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers (attached to the 5th Queens Royal (West Surrey) Regiment was a Military Medal winner (attached to the Indian Army) and was hospitalised in East Africa in early 1918. Hugh's Pension was awarded to his wife Jeanie on the 09/11/1918. Jeanie remarried Sapper C.E Caines of the Canadian Engineers on the 03/09/1918. His mother Mary is also listed on the 3 Pension Records including Hugh's 3 half-brothers.

Born / Resided

Coatbridge / 46 Abercorn St, Glasgow.

Died

Killed in Action on the 12/04/1918 at the Battle of Hazebrouck (part of the Battles of the Lys)

Enlisted

Hamilton 1914 originally Hamilton Barracks 1899

Employed

Regular soldier. Previously employed in the British Tube Works.

Age

38 Buried / Remembered

Ploegsteert Memorial (Panel 5), Hainaut, Belgium.

Cemetery / Memorial Information

The PLOEGSTEERT MEMORIAL commemorates more than 11,000 servicemen of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in this sector during the First World War and have no known grave. The memorial serves the area from the line Caestre-Dranoutre-Warneton to the north, to Haverskerque-Estaires-Fournes to the south, including the towns of Hazebrouck, Merville, Bailleul and Armentieres, the Forest of Nieppe, and Ploegsteert Wood. Most of those commemorated by the memorial did not die in major offensives, such as those which took place around Ypres to the north, or Loos to the south. Most were killed in the course of the day-to-day trench warfare which characterised this part of the line, or in small scale set engagements, usually carried out in support of the major attacks taking place elsewhere.

Additional Information

Hugh and the Battalion embarked aboard the SS "Caledonia" and arrived at Le Havre on the 15/08/1914 as Lines of Communication troops. They were part of the 19th Infantry Brigade who were part of the 6th Division, then 27th Division, then the 2nd Division and finally the 33rd Division. Hugh fell at the Battle of Hazebrouck, 12th – 15th April 1918. This was part of the Battles of the Lys, 9th - 29th April 1918 : The third German offensive Operation Klein-George (Georgette) takes place in Flanders with the objective of capturing key railway and supply roads and cutting off British Second Army at Ypres. After initial successes the German attack is once again held after British, Commonwealth and French reserves are somehow found and deployed. Hugh was 7 months short of serving the whole war. SEE PHOTOS x 8 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY APRIL 1918. On Hugh's Pension Records it is listed he used Andrew as an alias (see photos). Hugh was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The citation is dated 13/02/1917 and states - "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has performed consistent good work throughout the campaign and has at all times under fire set a splendid example. On one occasion he held an isolated trench with a few men under intense fire" (see photos). Hugh's 3 half-brothers served. Bernard and Peter McDonald were both Killed in Action (see Directory for both men). The 3rd half-brother James Henry McDonald was lying in hospital in East Africa at the time of Hugh's death. Hugh is also remembered on the St. Augustine's Church Roll of Honour (see photo). Hugh was awarded the Queens South African Medal, Kings South African Medal, Military Medal, Distinguished Conduct Medal, 1914 Star, Victory Medal and War Medal. See photos for Hugh's Medal Index Card, his D.C.M. citation, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his name on the Ploegsteert Memorial x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Ploegsteert Memorial Panel List, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Cap Badge and Hugh's and his half-brothers Pension Records x 7. Finally, see photos for Newspaper clippings x 4 (Coatbridge Express x 2, Coatbridge Leader x 1 and the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 1).

Photos

Hugh Burns D.C.M. M.M. remembered at home

War Diaries

The battalion War Diary is available on the National Archives website.

Creative Commons License

We have made this information and the images available under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement: © coatbridgeandthegreatwar.com

Comments

This man is my great uncle very proud of him
Laraine Burns Davies , Coatbridge , 09/12/2019 10:41PM

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