Charles Wilfrid Guthrie was born on 30th January 1898 in Kings Norton, Birmingham. His father was Charles Guthrie (1869-1953), son of the Advocate/Sheriff of Lanarkshire. His mother was Margaret Elizabeth (1873-1953), surname possibly Wilson; she married Charles on 14th April 1897 in Fulham, although they were both from the Edinburgh area.
In the 1901 Census Wilfred C Guthrie is listed with Margaret Elizabeth Guthrie at Beach Side, Inveresk. They are staying with Lilias Grey Orr Wilson (born around 1850) probably Margaret’s mother.
Charles (father) is also in the Census as a visitor at Southfield, Station Road, Bearsden giving the family’s first link to the area. His occupation was actuary and insurance inspector
In the 1911 Census the family was resident in Bearsden at Pettycur, Westbourne Drive (almost certainly number 3):
Charles went to Loretto School, Musselburgh from 1913 to 1916 as a boarder, a choice probably explained by his mother’s family roots. He seems to have excelled, being a prefect and editor of the school magazine. He was also a corporal in the Officer Training Corps.
By 1915 Charles (father) was renting land in Lanark and sometime between 1915 and 1920 he rented a house called Castlepark in Lanark (photo credit Lanark Museum (link)):
If you’re curious, I recommend this link to an estate agent’s brochure when the house was up for sale. The owner of the house was renting it to raise money for a motor car company that later became Aston Martin (I’m indebted to Andrew Plasom-Scott for posting this information, link)
I don’t know whether Charles (son) lived here. He had passed the exam for entry to Balliol, Oxford University, but he was only there for three days before joining the army, where he was commissioned in the Royal Scots.
(photo credit: Find-a-Grave website)
He landed in France on the 19th May 1917 and joined the 13th Battalion as a Second Lieutenant, destined to take part in the British offensive around Ypres in Belgium, better known as Passchendaele.
In the sector just north-east of Ypres, the 13th Royal Scots advanced on 31st July. The men had got up at 2.30 that morning to be in position for the attack and had then been in action all that day. It rained from 5pm onwards and the puddles and mud would have made life miserable. The battalion was to be taken out of the frontline that evening and an officer like Charles would not have been able to rest until this happened. The hours must have dragged by; then the news would have come that the battalion replacing them had not arrived until 3am and that was too late for the handover to occur before daylight. They would have to hang on for another day.
As the Germans counter-attacked the following afternoon, a group of the 13th Royal Scots were cut off in Beck House or Beck Farm. This map from the battalion war diary shows it in between the blue pencil marks (top left) and the red ‘castellated’ line just below it:
And here is an overlay on a modern map (photo credit: ScarningPluke, The Great War Forum website (link)):
The war diary describes Captain Christie being in charge and reporting a strong advance by the Germans. He was ordered to hold out at all costs, but was wounded soon after. Another captain was killed, leaving another second-lieutenant in charge. If the account of Charles Guthrie’s death is correct this man must also have been killed or wounded, leaving Charles as the most junior officer of all in charge – the diary does not mention him. The rest of the battalion was so reduced in numbers it was all they could do to hang on: there was nowhere near enough men to launch a rescue mission.
Charles was wounded three times but continued because he was the only officer left. He was then shot in the head and killed. The rest of the men with him were killed or captured.
(photo credit: Find-a-Grave website)
Charles was buried on the battlefield and reburied in Tyne Cot Cemetery soon after the end of the war:
