Mottram, Frederick ( - 1917)

Captain, Adjt. 48th Div. Ammunition Col. Royal Field Artillery

Buried at Dozinghem Military Cemetery

Commemorated at Hillhead High School

Frederick (better known as Eric) Mottram was the third son of Mr. Thomas H. Mottram, Divisional Inspector of Mines, and of Mrs. Mottram, Imperial Crescent, Doncaster. For a number of years his father was stationed in Glasgow, and Eric attended Hillhead High School till the close of his Intermediate course. He took an active part in the games of the School, and was a prominent member of the 1st XV. Few pupils have left a more fragrant memory in the School than Eric Mottram. He was a boy of rare promise, while his strong but refined character, sunny disposition, and generous nature won for him the goodwill and regard of all who came in contact with him.

On his father's removal to England he enrolled in Liverpool Institute. There he was a prominent figure in the cricket, football, and athletic field, and tied for first place in the high jump (open) at the Liverpool sports.

On leaving Liverpool he went to Yorkshire Main Colliery, Doncaster, as a student of mining, and prior to the war was appointed assistant manager there, though only twenty years of age. Immediately war broke out he applied for a commission, and was gazetted to the R.F.A.

He went to France in March, 1915, and during two and a half years took part in some of the hardest fighting on the Western Front. He was promoted captain and adjutant of a Divisional Ammunition Column, and it was while engaged on these duties that he was fatally injured by a bomb, 9th September, 1917.

His colonel, writing of him, says-" It is with great grief that I have to write and sympathise with you in your sad loss, and to tell you in what high estimation your son Eric was held by all who knew him and had to work with him. What he had to do was always done with that willingness and keenness that made him the excellent adjutant he was."

Another senior officer wrote regarding him-" I know that every officer and man in the Brigade will share your grief. Eric went out to
France as one of my subalterns, and I at once liked him, and eventually formed a very high opinion of him. He was a good soldier, conscientious and trustworthy in the extreme, always ready to take any risks, and invaluable to me in every way."

These tributes - and many more might be quoted - picture Eric to the life both as boy and man. Wherever he went he left behind a legacy of happy and precious memories.