A search is under way to trace descendents of a Fife soldier commended by King George V for having 10 members of his family serving in the British Army during the First World War.
David Stewart of Rosewell Cottages in Lochore received a letter from the monarch six months after the start of the Great War expressing his appreciation that he had nine sons and a son-in-law in service at the same time in 1915.
The royal correspondence was recently passed to Cardenden man and war veteran David Blane, who is organising a commemorative exhibition to mark the Great War’s centenary in the village next month.
Mr Blane, a military researcher for Benarty Heritage Preservation Group, has spent the last 18 months gathering information on local soldiers who served in the war and studying the background of the letter, dated January 13 1915.
It was sent from Buckingham Palace by Frederick Ponsonby, the keeper of the Privy Purse, on behalf of the king and reads:
“I have the honour to inform you that the king has heard with much interest that you have at the present moment nine sons and a son-in-law serving in his majesty’s forces.
“I am commanded to express to you the king’s congratulations and to assure you that his majesty much appreciates the spirit of patriotism which prompted this example, in one family, of loyalty and devotion to their sovereign and empire.”
Mr Blane said: “After a bit of digging I found a newspaper article from the Dunfermline Journal on Mr Stewart which showed he had been a regular soldier in the 3rd Hussars for 15 years. The article also featured the names of his sons and son-in-law as well as photographs of them, which was fantastic and really helped bring their story to life.”
They were: David, Highland Light Infantry; Alexander, Black Watch; William, Black Watch; James, Black Watch; John, Black Watch; Charles, Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders; Joseph, Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders; Robert, Cameron Highlanders; George, Army Service Corps. Mr Stewart’s son-in-law was called Alexander Linton and served in the Royal Scots.
Mr Blane, who served with the Royal Engineers between 1966 and 1981, said: “As a former sergeant with the Royal Scots and the son of a Black Watch soldier I am very interested in this story and keen to track down the descendents of Mr Stewart to see if we can learn any more about the family and their military background.
“It really is amazing to think one family from a small village in Fife had so many family members serving in the First World War and I would be very surprised if anywhere else in Britain could claim the same.”
As a result of his painstaking research, Mr Blane has uncovered the names of 226 local soldiers from the Benarty, Glencraig, Crosshill and Ballingry areas who served in the Great War and is hoping that sometime in the near future their names will be added to the nearby Benarty war memorial.
The Stewart letter will be on show along with various other First World War memorabilia at the event at Benarty Community Centre in Ballingry on September 26 from 10am until 8pm.
Anyone with information on the Stewart family can contact David on 01592 721592 or by email on flybasher@talktalk.net.