More about Stephen Martin

Clyde Z/331 A.B. Stephen Martin, Hood Battalion, Royal Naval Division, R.N.V.R., was killed in action on 18 October 1916.
The son of Mr and Mrs William Martin, 65 Main Street, Stephen enlisted on 27 September 1914.
He was twice wounded at the Dardanelles, sustaining a bayonet wound to his left hand, and temporarily losing his ability to speak after a shell explosion.
He joined Hood Battalion in February 1916, and was killed by a shell on 18 October, aged 24.

DUNDEE NAVAL VOLUNTEER KILLED. A.B. Stephen Martin, of the Royal Naval Division, has been killed in action.
Intimation of his death was received by his mother, who resides at 65 Main Street, Dundee. The letter conveying the sad intelligence states that Martin was struck by a shell and killed instantaneously. Deceased, who was 24 years of age, was wounded twice during operations at the Dardanelles. He was employed as a seaman on board one of the D.P. & L. steamers, and joined the Naval Volunteers shortly after the outbreak of war. The Courier, Friday, 3 November 1916, 4.

Stephen Martin was the son of Mr and Mrs William Martin of 65 Main Street, Dundee and worked as a Fireman (the equivalent trade to a Stoker in the Royal Navy) and other reports say he was a former Seaman with the Dundee, Perth and London Shipping Line. In September 1914, he was one of the first Dundee men to volunteer 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 for advanced military training. On completion of this he was drafted to the Collingwood Battalion in February 1915, serving in B Company. The Collingwood Battalion landed in Gallipoli in late May 1915 and took part in the Third Battle of Krithia on 4 June 1915. This was their first and last action because, as they advanced towards the enemy line, they were caught in heavy Turkish artillery and machinegun fire. The number of dead and wounded was very high and the Battalion was disbanded two days later. The survivors were distributed to the other RND battalions to replace their losses. Stephen Martin received a bayonet wound to his left hand and was treated for this in hospital in Malta. He returned to Gallipoli and joined the Howe Battalion in July but was evacuated days later, after suffering from shock in a shell explosion which deprived him of speech. Treatment took place in Cairo and later in Haslar Naval Hospital in Gosport, Hampshire. At the end of October he reported to Blandford Camp again and, in February 1916, was drafted to the Hood Battalion undertaking garrison duties in the Aegean Sea. The Hood Battalion sailed for France in May and trained for fighting on the Western Front. Stephen Martin was killed in action in the days before the final Somme Battle. He is buried in the Hamel Military Cemetery, Beaumont-Hamel.