Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.134 | |
| 2. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 56D GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Early Life :
Born in Brisbane, Australia, 7th September 1889, son of Henry Hamilton Stuart Russell (1854-1936 in Buenos Aires) and Rae Stuart Benjamin (Melbourne 1860 - Rio de Janeiro 1933) His parents emigrated to Argentina, separated, and his mother became a partner of A W KOHRING. She donated photographs of her son to the Imperial War Museum in 1927. The image above, repeated on Find-a-Grave is likely to be one of those photographs.He worked in the Engineer's Department of the Buenos Ayres & Pacific Railway until the outbreak of war.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: Royal Garrison Artillery |
| Action : The Battles of the Somme 1916 |
The Battle of the Somme 1st July - 18th November 1916 is inevitably characterised by the appalling casualties (60,000) on the first day, July 1st 1916. Having failed to break through the German lines in force, and also failed to maximise opportunities where success was achieved, the battle became a series of attritional assaults on well defended defence in depth. The battle continued officially until 18th November 1916 costing almost 500,000 British casualties. German casualties were about the same, and French about 200,000. The Somme could not be counted a success in terms of ground gained or the cost, but it had a strategic impact as it marked the start of the decline of the German Army. Never again would it be as effective whilst the British Army, learning from its experience eventually grew stronger to become a war winning army. The German High Command recognised that it could never again fight another Somme, a view that advanced the decision to invoke unrestricted submarine warfare in an attempt to starve Britain of food and material, and in doing so accelerated the United States declaration of war thus guaranteeing the eventual outcome. 287 Brethren were killed on the Somme in 1916.
Detail :
Second Lieutenant Cecil Henry Stuart Russell, Royal Garrison Artillery. Killed in Action in the Somme on his 27th birthday, 7th September, 1916.
He left Argentina 12th November, 1914 on Araguaya.
Probate RUSSELL Cecil Henry Stuart of the Rectory Fowlmere Cambridgeshire second-lieutenant Royal Garrison Artillery died 7 September 1916 in France Probate Peterborough 31 October to the reverend Alexander Campbell Yorke clerk. Effects £181 2s. 1d.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Aconcagua No. 3489 E.C. | Unknown |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
14th July 1913 | 25th August 1913 | 22nd September 1913 |
Listed as a 24 year old Engineer resident at Mendoza, Argentina in 1913 at the time of his initiation. Some war service is shown in the contribution register followed by "Killed in France Sept 1916."
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley