More about Forbes Masterton

For reasons unknown this man is not listed on the original Dundee Roll of Honour, but is remembered on Dundee’s Harris Academy Honour Roll, Carnoustie War Memorial and Panbride Church War Memorial.

He was the brother of Pte Gilbert Masterton, 2583, 4th Battalion, Black Watch, who was killed in action 09.05.1915.

Forbes Masterton   CZ/654   Machine Gun Corps   R.N.D.

CARNOUSTIE MOTHER’S HEAVY LOSS.

Two Sons and a Daughter.

Mrs Masterton, 5 Lochty Street, Carnoustie, has received word that her son, Forbes Masterton, of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve has been killed in action.

Previous to joining the Naval Brigade at Dundee on the outbreak of war Forbes Masterton was engaged as a school teacher.  He was wounded in action near the Dardanelles on 11th May, 1915.

A younger brother, Private Gilbert Masterton, Black Watch, was killed at Neuve Chapelle on 9th May, 1915, when he was the first of the Royal Highlanders to cross the parapet on that historic occasion.

Some months ago Mrs Masterton lost her eldest daughter as the result of a street accident in London.

Much sympathy is being expressed in Carnoustie for Mrs Masterton, who has been called upon to bear such a heavy burden as the loss of two sons and one daughter within a comparatively short time.

Dundee Evening Telegraph 7th May 1917

Seaman Forbes Masterton, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who has been killed in action, is a son of Mrs Masterton, 5 Lochty Street, Carnoustie, and was a school teacher previous to the outbreak of war.  He was wounded in action on 11th May, 1915, at the Dardanelles, and a younger brother, Private G. Masterton, of the Black Watch, was killed at the battle of Neuve Chapelle on the 11th of the same month.

Arbroath Herald 11th May 1917

Forbes Masterton was the son of Mrs Ellen Masterton of Ferrier Street, Carnoustie and was a Teacher who worked in Dundee between 1907 and 1910. He was married to Mrs Isabel McMath Masterton of Canmore Street, Forfar and Ferrier Street, Carnoustie. At the beginning of October 1914 he volunteered to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve onboard HMS Unicorn for service in the Royal Naval Division. After initial Naval Training at the Crystal Palace in South London he was sent to Blandford Camp in Dorset, in November, for advanced military training. From there he was attached to the Drake Battalion which had just returned from service at Antwerp. He was formally drafted to C Company of the Drake in January 1915 and sailed with the Battalion to Gallipoli at the end of February. He was wounded in action during the Second Battle of Krithia in May and received gunshot wounds to his upper extremities and was evacuated hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. A later report changed his injury to a bayonet wound. He returned to the Battalion in late July onboard the transport Knight Templar but became ill with influenza in September. This time he was evacuated to Britain and sent to the Haslar Royal Naval Hospital in Gosport, Hampshire. He was transferred to the Naval Hospital in Plymouth and, from there, sent on 28 days convalescence leave. On completion of his leave he reported to Blandford Camp and spent the next ten months there, being confirmed in his rate of Leading Seaman in July 1916. He was drafted to the 189th Brigade Machine Gun Company in September and sent on the Machine Gun Course at Grantham, Lincolnshire which he left at the end of November and departed for France. Arriving at the Machine Gun Corps Base Depot at Camiers he remained there until February 1917. He returned to the front line and took part in the Gavrelle fight during the Battle of Arras in April 1917. Forbes Masterton was killed during this action and his body was not recovered. He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial in Northern France and in the St Andrews University Roll of Honour on page 13.

Iain Stewart and Iain Birnie