Major Stewart Walter Loudon-Shand VC


Major Loudon-Shand served in the 10th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment as a company commander in World Wr One. At Fricourt, on 1 July 1916, on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, his company were ordered over the top but were immediately met by enemy machine-gun fire. This halted their attempt to climb out of the trench, but Major Loudon Shand leapt onto the parapet and hauled his men up, giving them encouragement in the face of intense fire. He was exposed to great danger but carried on until he was mortally wounded. Despite his condition he ordered his men to prop him up so that he could continue with his encouragement until he died. He was buried at Norfolk Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt, near the Somme.

Stewart Walter Loudon-Shand was born in Ceylon on 8 Oct 1879. His father John Loudon Shand originated from Scotland, and was a prominent tea-planter. His mother, Lucy came out to Ceylon in 1872 to be married, and died in 1930. John and Lucy had 10 children, 5 of which were boys. Stewart was the second son and was sent to London to be educated at Dulwich College. In 1899 he enlisted in the Pembroke Yeomanry to fight in the Boer War as a lance-corporal. He was 35 when war broke out in 1914 and serving as an officer in the Yorkshire Regiment. He held the rank of Temporary Major in 1916 when he was killed.


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