Main CPGW Record
Surname: CAIRNS
Forename(s): Samuel
Place of Birth: Skipton, Yorkshire
Service No: 69703
Rank: Bombardier
Regiment / Corps / Service: Royal Garrison Artillery
Battalion / Unit: 135th Heavy Battery
Division: ---
Age: 28
Date of Death: 1917-01-03
Awards: ---
CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: IV. F. 3.
CWGC Cemetery: WARLINCOURT HALTE BRITISH CEMETERY, SAULTY
CWGC Memorial: ---
Non-CWGC Burial: ---
Local War Memorial: SKIPTON, YORKSHIRE
Additional Information:
Samuel Cairns was the son of James and Catherine Cairns (née - ). James was born at St. Boswells, Roxburghshire, the son of Samuel and Agnes Cairns. Catherine was born in the Parish of Lunnasting, Shetland.
1891 Skipton, Yorkshire Census, 1, Alma Terrace - Samuel Cairns, aged 2 years, born Skipton, son of James and Catherine Cairns.
1901 Skipton, Yorkshire Census: 4, Devonshire Street - Samuel Cairns, aged 12 years, born Skipton, son of James and Catherine Cairns.
1911 Fleetwood, Lancashire Census: 58, Milton Street - Samuel Cairns, aged 22 years, born Skipton, Yorkshire. [Samuel was boarding with Mary Walmsley, widow.]
The British Army Service Record for Samuel Cairns exists but may be incomplete.
British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards: Gnr Samuel Cairns, 69703, R.G.A.
British Army WW1 Medal and Award Rolls: Gnr Samuel Cairns, 69703, 161 Hvy Bty. R.G.A.
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: A/Bomb'r Samuel Cairns, 69703, 135 Hvy Bty., R.G.A. Date and Place of Death: 3.1.17. 43 C. C. Stn. France. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Father - James. £0 5s. 4d.
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: A/Bombardier Samuel Cairns, 69703, 135 Heavy Bty., R.G.A. Date and Place of Death: 3.1.17. 43 Cas. Cl. St. France or Belgium. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Father - James. £9 16s. 3d.
UK, WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923: card(s) exist for Samuel. Name(s) on card(s): Dependant: Mrs Catherine Cairns. Relationship: Mother. Address: 16, Otley Street, Skipton, Yorks.
Samuel is commemorated on the Fleetwood War Memorial.
Data Source: Craven’s Part in the Great War - original CPGW book entry
View Entry in CPGW BookEntry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record:
CAIRNS, Bombardier Samuel, aged 28, R.F.A., Otley Street, [Skipton], died of wounds, Jan. 3, 1917.
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Bombardier Samuel CAIRNS
Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Royal Garrison Artillery
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Additional Photo(s) For Soldier Records
Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery, Saulty
CWGC Headstone
Courtesy of Colin Chadwick, Harrogate
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05 January 1917
SKIPTON SOLDIER DANGEROUSLY WOUNDED
We regret to learn that Mr. and Mrs. James Cairns of Otley Street, Skipton, received a telegram on Sunday stating that their eldest son, Bombardier Samuel Cairns, R.G.A., had been admitted to a casualty clearing station in France "dangerously ill from a shell wound". 28 years of age, Bombardier Cairns joined the Army last November and had been in France since July last. In civil life he was a watchmaker and jeweller, and for several years had been in the employ of a Fleetwood firm. He was well known locally as a bass singer, and has taken part in many local concerts.
Since the above was written, Mr. and Mrs. Cairns have received a letter from an Army Chaplain stating that their son was wounded in both legs by a shell (apparently on December 29th), and that he was doing as nicely as could be expected and hoped to be sent to a base hospital before long.
12 January 1917
CAIRNS - January 3rd at No.43 Casualty Clearing Station, France, from wounds received in action, Bombardier Samuel Cairns, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Cairns, Otley Street, Skipton, aged 28 years.
12 January 1917
SKIPTON BOMBARDIER DIES FROM WOUNDS - BOMBARDIER SAMUEL CAIRNS
We regret to state that Bombardier Samuel Cairns, R.G.A., of Skipton, has succumbed to the wounds he received in the latter part of December. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Cairns, of Otley Street, Skipton, received a communication from the R.G.A. Records Office, Dover on Sunday, stating that the War Office had notified the death of Bombardier Samuel Cairns in No. 43 Casualty Clearing Station, France, on January 3rd from wounds received in action. As recorded in our last issue, deceased was wounded in both legs by a shell. 28 years of age, he joined the Army a year last November, and had been in France since July. In civil life he was a watchmaker and jeweller, having learnt his trade with Mr. S. Birdsall of Skipton, and for several years he had been in the employ of a Fleetwood firm. A bass singer of more than average merit, he had been a member of the Congregational Choirs at both Skipton and Fleetwood, and was associated with the once well-known mixed voice choir in Skipton. He had also taken part in many local concerts both at Skipton and Fleetwood, and some time ago took a prominent part in a charity concert given at Fleetwood on behalf of the widows and orphans of the sailors lost through the sinking of a trawler. Deceased's younger brother, Lance Corporal Andrew Cairns, is also serving at the Front with the West Yorkshire Regiment.
26 October 1917
SKIPTON
IN MEMORIAM SERVICE FOR THE FALLEN
At the Congregational Church, Skipton, on Tuesday evening, an impressive musical service was held in memory of the teachers and old scholars of the Brougham Street Council School who have fallen in the first three years of the war. Particulars of the deaths of these brave lads have appeared in our columns from time to time, and their names are as follows:- Willie Barraclough, C.D. Bennett (teacher), Arthur Bruce, Sam Cairns, Cyril Calvert, Ennie Clarke, Tom Clarke, Harry Ingham, Tom Langman, Reggie Pollard, Lewis Sedgwick, Joe Stewart, Harry Tindall (teacher), and J.W. Varley.
There was a large and sympathetic congregation, including relatives of those in whose honour the service was held. Conducted jointly by the Rev. L.H. Gaunt and Mr. A. Townsend (headmaster of the school), the service, in addition to special prayers, hymns, collects, &c., comprised anthems by the Brougham Street School Old Scholars' Choir (under the direction of Mr. Townsend), solos by Miss D. Wear and Mr. Clifford Townsend, and an address by Mr. Gaunt.
In a few introductory remarks Mr. Townsend explained the object of the service, which he said was one of praise rather than of sorrow for the splendour of the lives that had been laid down. - The anthems were 'O God, protect with Thy strong hand' (Greig), 'Rest for the Weary' (Gounod), 'The Lord is my Shepherd' (Smart), and 'Peace to the Souls of the Heroes' (Callcott), and in all these and in Nicholson's setting of the 'Magnificat' the girls' voices blended with pleasing effect, the singing being marked by a very fine tone and clear enunciation, showing evidence of careful training. Miss D. Wear sang most acceptably the exacting solo 'I know that my Redeemer' (Handel) and Mr. Clifford Townsend gave a meritorious interpretation of 'The trumpet shall sound' (Handel). In addition to playing the organ accompaniments with the customary taste and efficiency, Mr. W.H. Green contributed as a solo the 'Hallelujah Chorus.'
In his address the Rev. L.H. Gaunt expressed his pleasure that the Congregational Church should have been used for a service of that kind and said he would rejoice if it could be used more frequently for public gatherings in which not only comparatively small circle of their own congregation might join, but in which the whole town might feel that it had some part. He also expressed his agreement with what Mr. Townsend had said as to the view they ought to take of the death of their boys, and said he felt that the Bishop of London - despite the fact that he had been taken to task for his expression of opinion - was right when he said that they ought not to think of the death of their boys as sheer calamity and overwhelming sorrow. They ought to think of them as having made a sacrifice bravely and heroically at the call of their country and for humanity, and those who were left behind to cherish their memory would honour them best by thinking of that sacrifice as a victory and not as a disaster; and their remembrance of them should come as a call to follow their example, to live so that they would be worthy of the sacrifice of their loved ones, and to bring to their lives into harmony with the great high note that they had struck in their sacrifice. They thanked God for what their boys had done and suffered, and most of all for what they had been and were now, and to ask His grace to follow in their train.
A collection was taken on behalf of the proposed new memorial of the Brougham Street School, which will probably take the form of a scholarship fund.
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05 January 1917
SKIPTON SOLDIER DANGEROUSLY ILL
Mr. and Mrs. James Cairns, of Otley Street, Skipton, have received official information that their son, Private Samuel Cairns, of the Royal Garrison Artillery, is dangerously ill suffering from shell shock in a Casualty Clearing Station in France. Private Cairns, who is 28 years of age, enlisted just over a year ago, and had been out in France since July last. He was prior to joining the army a watchmaker at Fleetwood. When residing in Skipton he was well-known for his vocal abilities.
12 January 1917
CAIRNS - Jan. 3rd, at the 43rd Casualty Clearing Station, France, of wounds received in action, Bombardier Samuel Cairns, of the Royal Garrison Artillery, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Cairns, of Otley Street, Skipton, aged 28 years.
12 January 1917
SKIPTON SOLDIER DIES OF WOUNDS
We regret to learn that Mr. and Mrs. James Cairns, of Otley Street, Skipton, have received a letter from the Records Office at Dover stating that the War office had informed them that their son, Bombardier Samuel Cairns, of the Royal Garrison Artillery, died in the 43rd Casualty Clearing Station in France on January 3rd from wounds received in action. Bombardier Cairns, who was 28 years of age, joined the army a year last November, and had been in France since July last. Prior to enlisting he was a watchmaker and jeweller and for several years had been in the employ of a Fleetwood firm. He learned his trade with Mr. Birdsall, jeweller, of Skipton. He was a well-known bass singer, being formerly a member of the Skipton Congregational Church choir, and also a member of the old mixed choir in Skipton. While at Fleetwood he took part in a concert on behalf of the widows and orphans of those sunk in a trawler. Mr. and Mrs. Cairns have also a younger son, Lance-Corporal Andrew Cairns, who is serving at the Front with the West Yorkshire Regiment. Bombardier Cairns was wounded in both legs, and a letter received last week from the army chaplain to his parents stated that he was doing as nicely as could be expected, and hoped to be sent to a base hospital before long.
14 September 1917
SKIPTON SOLDIERS WOUNDED
News has been received that Lance Corporal Andrew Cairns, of the Yorkshire Regiment, son of Mr. James Cairns, tailor, of Otley Street, Skipton, has been wounded. In a letter to his parents a chaplain states that he was wounded in the right arm a fortnight ago last Monday, and was taken to a stationary hospital in France, afterwards being removed to the base and then to Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot. Lance-Corporal Cairns has also himself written, and states that he was wounded by a shell in the right arm and had been operated on. It was quite probable he would not have to go out again. He is 24 years of age and was formerly an assistant with Messrs. Freeman, Hardy and Willie, at Skipton. He afterwards entered the employ of the British Boot and Shoe Company, and had served at Bradford. Harrogate, Bridlington, and London. He enlisted in October of last year, and had been at the front since Christmas. The eldest son of Mr. Cairns, Bombardier Sam Cairns, died from wounds on January 3rd last.
26 October 1917
SKIPTON
IN MEMORIAM SERVICE FOR THE FALLEN
An in memoriam musical service was held at the Congregational Church, Skipton, on Tuesday evening last in memory of the teachers and old scholars of the Brougham Street Council School, who have made the supreme sacrifice in the first three years of the war. Their names are as follows:- Willie Barraclough, C. D. Bennett (teacher), Arthur Bruce, Sam Cairns, Cyril Calvert, Ennie Clarke, Tom Clarke, Harry Ingham, Tom Langman, Reggie Pollard, Lewis Sedgwick, Joe Stewart, Harry Tindall (teacher), and J.W. Varley. Mr. A. Townsend, in explaining the objects of the service, said he hoped it would not be of a sorrowful character, but that they were gathered together to honour all the men that had laid down their lives.
Rev. L. F. Gaunt, in the course of a brief address, said that he fully concurred with the statement made at the opening of the service that their predominant thought should be one of trust and thanksgiving for those who had made the supreme sacrifice. They were not to think of those young lives as having been thrown away and lost. No true life would ever be lost, for it was a gift of God, and anything that came from Him could never really die. Standing one day this summer he had watched the field of daisies rippling in the wind, and had rejoined in their beauty, but even as he stood there a mowing machine had come and cut down all the flowers. It seemed a waste of life and beauty, but he remembered that the roots were still there and that the flowers would grow all the fairer and the stronger next year. So it was with those whom we described as having been cut down in their youth. The roots of life had not perished, but would bear flowers and fruit again. Our loved ones, who had passed away, could still be helped by our love and by our prayers. It was for those who remained to prove themselves worthy of the sacrifices that had been made so that at the end they might meet again without shame.
During the evening the following programme was gone through by the members of the Brougham Street Old Scholars' Choir: Anthem, 'O God protect with Thy strong hand' (Grier); sentences and collects; anthem, 'Rest for the weary' (Gounod); hymn, 'For all the Saints'; lesson; magnificat (S. Nicholson); hymn, 'God of our fathers'; solo, 'The trumpet shall sound' (Handel), Clifford Townsend; 'Hallelujah chorus,' organ; solo, 'I know that my Redeemer' (Handel), D. Wear; anthem, 'The Lord is my shepherd' (Smart); hymn, 'Was there ever kindest shepherd'; anthem, 'Peace to the souls of the heroes' (Callcott); hymn, 'The day Thou gavest.' During the evening a collection was taken, the proceeds of which are to be devoted to the proposed school memorial.
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