Alexander Hepburn
14th (Service) Battalion, Highland Light Infantry
Died 24th November 1917
Private W. Hepburn – Can. Ex. Force and Private A. Hepburn – H.L.I.
These two men were brothers. William was born in 1892; Alexander in 1894. Their elder brother Charles (born 1890) also served with the Canadians.
William, Alexander and Charles were sons of James Hepburn, Farm Overseer, and Helen Walker who was a native of Lumphanan where the couple married. The family lived for a time at Hillhead, Peterculter, then Danestone and, during the war at Milton, Campfield, Glassel. In October 1914, Mr Hepburn contributed to Lady Sempill’s Aberdeenshire fund for motor ambulances for the front in a conflict that was to claim two of his sons in 1917.
Private William Hepburn
William was born on 30 December 1892 at Banchory. He emigrated to Canada and became a Motorman (driver) on the Toronto Street Railway. He was unmarried when he enlisted at Toronto on 13 August 1915 in the 92nd Overseas Bn (48th Highlanders) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (no. 192525). His unit sailed from Halifax on 20 May 1916 on the “Empress of Britain”, arriving in England on 29 May where he appears to have remained for a few months before proceeding to France in September, following a transfer, in August to the 42nd Bn. of the Canadian Infantry (Quebec) Regiment (Royal Highlanders of Canada).
The 42nd, as befitted their Scottish origins, supported their own pipe band. They remained in France and Flanders throughout the war, as part of the 7th Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Canadian Division. In the final week of March 1917 they were involved in the allied advance on the Hindenburg Line.
Private Hepburn died on 28 March 1917. An extract from the battalion War Diary on that day suggests he may have been the victim of a sniper: “From No.3 Longfellow Post Snipers were able to enfilade Blurt Trench and several hundred yards of the Artillerie Weg, where they had numerous targets and claimed several hits”.
He is buried at Écoivres Military Cemetery, Mont-St.Eloi.
Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Scottish Statutory Register of Births
1901 Census
Ancestorsonboard (uncertain passenger list identification – possibly “Saturnia” 20 March 1913)
Library and Archives of Canada – Personnel Records of the First World War – file B4283-SO35
Internet Archive – War Diary of the 42nd Bn. Canadian Expeditionary Force
Veterans.gc.ca (includes photo of his tombstone at Écoivres)
Aberdeen Journal 14 April 1917
Aberdeen Weekly Journal 20 April 1917 – “Intimation has been received by Mr and Mrs Hepburn, Milton of Campfield, Glassel, that their second son, Private William Hepburn, had been killed in action on 28th March. He joined the Canadians, and came to this country in the end of 1916”.
Private A. Hepburn – H.L.I.
Alexander was born on 8 December 1894 at Hillhead of Cults, Peterculter. He joined up at Aberdeen and became Private no. 31109 in the 14th (Service) Bn of the Highland Light Infantry – one of the “Bantam Battalions”. (George Taylor was in the same battalion). The 14th HLI were sent to France for service on the Western Front in June 1916 becoming part of the 120th Brigade in the 40th Division.
It was reported in November 1917, when Mr and Mrs Hepburn were no doubt still trying to come to terms with the loss of William in March, that their eldest son, Charles, was suffering from gas poisoning and had been admitted to hospital in England. Not long after, they must have received the even worse news of Alexander’s death on 24 November 1917.
It is impossible to know exactly what happened to him, but the battalion War Diary offers some insights into the events of that day. On the evening of 23 November 1917 they were ordered up to the Hindenburg Support Line (two or three hundred yards beyond the Germans’ defensive Hindenburg Line) to support the 121st Brigade but were stood down as not required. The Battalion diary records “Men very tired”. The following morning, under orders to capture the village of Bourlon, they moved to Bourlon Wood through a barrage at Graincourt, and on to Anneux Chapel and, in the course of the afternoon, entered and occupied the village. Needless to say there had been casualties along the way, one platoon having, as the Diary puts it been “knocked out” in the barrage.
He is commemorated at the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval.
Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in the Great War
Register of Births
1901 Census
Aberdeen Press & Journal 13 November 1917 – re Charles
National Archives – War Diary of the 14th Bn HLI: WO95/2612/1
