Robert Park

RankPrivate 4721
Medals1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
RegimentArmy Cyclist Corps, 9th Division Cyclist Company
Military Service

Robert Park enlisted at Glasgow on 7th August 1914. On the 27th August he arrived at Glencorse Barracks, Edinburgh and became Private 12395 in the 12th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots. The Battalion was attached to 27th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division and moved to Bordon near Aldershot for training at the end of August. In January 1915, Park applied for transfer to the Army Cyclist Corps and, on this being approved in March, he became Private 4721. Thus he did not go to France in May 1915 with the 12th Royal Scots but was instead at Hounslow, Headquarters of the Army Cyclist Corps. He was finally posted on 20th October 1915 though he didn’t rejoin the 9th Division until 25th December 1915 as part of its Cyclist Company. Instead he spent much of November and the first half of December in and out of hospital in Boulogne suffering from deafness and cellulitis.
In his 20 months service Park did not prove to be an asset to the army. He accumulated a list of misdemeanors (absent from Church parade, from Roll Call, overstaying his pass, drunkenness, swearing) which resulted in regular confinement to barracks and occasional loss of pay.

Born

April 1892

Death15th March 1916
Circumstances of Death

Wounded in action (gun shot wounds to abdomen and buttock) on 13th March 1916 and died 2 days later in No 2 Casualty Clearing Station.

AgeNot Known
BurialBailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, II. C. 212
CWGC Information

None

Parents

James Park (d. 1947) & Mary Watt (d. 1942)

Father's Occupation

Iron turner

Siblings

None known

Spouse

Bridget M King married 27th June 1913 in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow. In spite of Park marrying in the RC cathedral and having a rosary in his possession at the time of his death, he gave his religion as Presbyterian on enlisting.  One son James was born in 1914.

Education

Not known

Occupation

Shipyard labourer

1901 Census

Not found

1911 Census

Not found

Home Address

95 Drygate Street, Glasgow

Glasgow NecropolisCompartment Quartus Lair not known
Other Memorials

Scottish National War Memorial

Other Information

Bridget Park received a pension of 15/- [15 shillings] per week as pension for herself and her son.
5 days before Park left for the front he completed Army Form B243, a simple form of will, by which he left everything to his wife in the event of his death.
There is no known portrait of Robert Park but his Service Record describes him as being 5 feet 5 5/8 inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He had some small scars on his forehead and a tattoo of a woman’s head and flowers on the front of his right arm.

Acknowledgements and Sources

Much of the information on which this profile is based is drawn from various internet sources which are listed below.  The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis also wish to make full acknowledgement and thanks for the permitted use of any information or images generously supplied specifically for exhibition, publication or display in connection with The Roll of Honour and accompanying profiles to Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk), Findmypast (www.findmypast.co.uk), etc, etc

Commonwealth War Graves Commission – www.cwgc.org

Family Search – www.familysearch.org

The Long, Long Trail – http://www.1914-1918.net/

Scotlands People – www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

The Scottish War Memorials Project – www.warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com

Short Service Attestation for Robert Park in British Army WW1 Service Records, 1914-1920.  (TNA WO 363)

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Credits

Compiled by Morag Fyfe, Historical and Genealogical Researcher for The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis.

 
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