Wilson, Oswald ( - 1917)

Second Lieutenant, 5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment

Buried at Maroc British Cemetery, Grenay

Commemorated at Hillhead High School

Second Lieutenant Wilson, whose sisters reside at 45 Montgomerie Street, Kelvinside North, received all his education in Hillhead High School.

After a shortbusiness career in Glasgow, he joined the firm of Messrs. F. & R. Johnson, tile manufacturers, Stoke-on-Trent. He was well known and much esteemed for many years in the English pottery district.

When war began he was one of the gallant band of men in good positions who did not wait for commissions, but enlisted in the ranks. The Seaforths, though a north-country regiment, seems to have had a special attraction for Hillhead pupils, and Oswald Wilson, on joining, found himself in thoroughly congenial company.

After a period of training he left for France in April, 1915. He was wounded at the Battle of Loos, and was for a time in hospital ill England. On his recovery he was granted a commission in the 5th North Staffordshire, and left for France in September, 1916, where he was attached to the 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment. He took part in much hard fighting during the Battle of the Somme, and won the respect of all his brother officers and the confidence of his men.

On the 19th March, 1917, while gallantly holding a most important post against an attack by the Germans, he was struck by a bomb and
killed instantaneously. The adjutant of the regiment writes-"We all felt his loss very much, as his type of officer one does not come across very frequently these days, viz., a man gifted with courage, intelligence, and common sense combined."