S
Thomas Robert SLOANE (Royal Naval Reserve)
Captain
Born 19 Aug 1871, Ardrishaig; Died 27 Aug 1927, Melrose
In Sep 1918 it was reported that he was in command of the transport in which the Rev. Gollan travelled to Palestine.
He lived at Castlepark Villas and was a shipmaster, gaining his master’s certificate in 1897. He married Jane Riddle Black in Greenock in 1900.
James SMITH (Royal Field Artillery, Bute MB)
Born 23 Dec 1883, Dunoon; Died 17 Jan 1953, Largs
Enlisted Feb 1915; posted France with the Ammunition Column May 1915. In a letter home in Sep 1915 he described training mules to haul ammunition. A keen poet, the local newspaper published a poem he sent from France along with a five franc donation to the Red Cross.
He lived at Govanbank, Springbank and Corona Place, and prior to the war he was a gardener at Southannan Estate. After the war he was a storeman in Old Kilpatrick, where he married Catherine McLean in 1925. In 1928 they moved to Largs, where he worked as a gas meter reader, and later a car park attendant. He is the brother of William Smith.
William Marshall SMITH (Royal Garrison Artillery)
Gunner 300719
Born 29 Jul 1887, Fairlie; Died 1972, West Kilbride
Enlisted 4th Highland Mountain Brigade Nov 1915; according to his family, he served at Gallipoli, and was invalided from the army because of malaria.
He lived at Govanbank, Springbank and Corona Place. Before the war he was a draughtsman at Fife’s yard, and after he opened a draper’s shop in Largs. He married Catherine Mary Lawrie in Glasgow in 1915, and Margaret Boyd McCreadie in Largs in 1954. He is the brother of James Smith.
William SPEIRS (King’s Own Scottish Borders, 6th Btn)
Corporal 202319 (formerly Royal Scots Fusiliers)
Born 25 Oct 1895, Fairlie; Died 30 Sep 1918, Belgium
Enlisted 1914; killed in action in Belgium, initially being reported missing in Sep 1918, and a year later presumed to have been killed on that date. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.
He lived at Clederion in 1901, and later at Winton Place.
Archibald STALKER (Royal Scots Fusiliers 1/5)
Private 7701 & 240629
Born 19 Apr 1896, West Kilbride; Died 1973, Greenock
Enlisted Sep 1914; served in the Dardanelles, where he sustained a severe shrapnel wound to the leg in Oct 1915, and in France, where he was hospitalised with a gunshot wound to the back in Oct 1918.
He lived at Railway Buildings and, when he married Fanny H. Court in Glasgow in 1924, he was a railway platelayer. He is the brother of Daniel Stalker and William Wilson.
Daniel STALKER (R.E.)
Born 2 Oct 1885, West Kilbride; Died 5 Dec 1961, Coatbridge
He lived at Railway Buildings, and later at Corona Place. In 1909 he married Jessie M. Carmichael in Glasgow. He was a railway surfaceman, and in 1961 his occupation was cemetery superintendent (ret.). He is the brother of Archibald Stalker and William Wilson.
Dugald STEWART (Royal Army Medical Corps)
Private 154285
Born 29 Jan 1875, Lismore ; Died 27 Nov 1925, Fairlie
Attested Dec 1915; posted for training June 1918 and to RAMC Depot July 1918.
He lived at Kelburn South Offices and Kelburnfoot, and he worked as a gardener’s labourer. He married Mary Martin in 1904 at Tighnabruich.
Norman STEWART (Canadian Expeditionary Force)
Lance Corporal 1016012
Born 17 Jul 1876, Largs; Died 26 Oct 1957, Canada
Enlisted Feb 1917; reported on leave from the Western Front Sep 1918.
He lived at Fairlie Ward. In 1901 and 1912 he was a police constable in Ardrossan and Barrhill respectively. He married Sara Thomson in Oct 1912 in Barrhill, and nine days later they emigrated to Canada. He is the brother of Thomas and William Stewart.
Thomas STEWART (Highland Light Infantry)
Captain (formerly Royal Scots Fusiliers)
Born 5 Mar 1869, Largs; Died 8 Jun 1946, Glasgow
An army pensioner who retired in 1909, he re-enlisted Sep 1914; entered theatre of war in France July 1915; was commissioned May 1917.
He lived at Fairlie Ward. He first enlisted in the army in 1896 and retired after 21 years’ service, including 10 years in the East Indies. In 1907 he married Elizabeth Cuthbertson in Straiton. He is the brother of Norman and William Stewart.
William STEWART (Royal Engineers)
Born 22 Dec 1882, Fairlie; Died (unknown)
Enlisted 1914; reported in June 1916 to have written a thank you letter to the Fairlie Cigarette Fund.
He was born and lived at Fairlie Ward; in 1901 he was a ship joiner. He is the brother of Norman and Thomas Stewart.
John Mann SUMMERS (Highland Light Infantry, 9th Btn)
Lieutenant
Born 10 Feb 1884, Kilbarchan ; Died 18 Dec 1938, Fairlie
Enlisted Sep 1914; first saw action in France Nov 1914; commissioned Aug 1916. Awarded the Military Cross Oct 1917, “When the enemy attacked he led a counter attack across the open, and afterwards went out, under heavy fire, and brought in a badly wounded man”.
He lived at Beach House, and married Gertrude Mary Hardie or Cowan in Glasgow in 1917. Before the war he was a coal merchant, and later a wholesale stationer, his father having established the Glasgow stationers Mann, Summers & Co. in 1878.