Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, South Africa.
• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

23 November 1914 - 6 February 1915. As the armies of 1914 fought themselves to exhaustion they settled down by the end of the year to the realities of static trench warfare. During the winter, activity was mostly comprised of a series of small scale raids and attempts by the BEF to gain superiority over the battlefront. At the same time increasing numbers of Territorial battalions and replacements for the Regular battalions came into theatre and had to be trained and acclimatised to trench occupation. This period was further noted for the severity of the weather and the need to rapidly source and equip the troops with adequate winter and waterproof equipment, whilst improving the trench conditions. Miserable times.

Detail :

Newspaper Article - IWM (HU119474) - undated "2nd LIEUTENANT (temp.) MALCOLM ERNEST CALLARD, RESERVE OF OFFICERS, attd. 1st BATTN. LOYAL NORTH REGIMENT was the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Callard, Little Missenden, Bucks. He was born in January, 1885, and was educated at Clifton, and afterwards at Tours, under a private tutor. He received his commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, The Welsh Regiment, in 1904 and in November 1905 was gazetted tot he Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. Invalided home from South Africa, he resigned his commission in 1908 and voluntarily entered the Reserve of Officers. After spending five years in Malay as a planter, 2nd Lieutenant Callard was recalled from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on the outbreak of war to rejoin his regiment. He was sent to France in November as Machine-gun Officer, in which capacity he saw severe fighting, losing on one occasion three guns out of four by shell fire. He was killed in action ont he 25th January, 1915, at Beuvry, near Bethune, being struck by a fragment of high-explosive shell. His younger brother, 2nd Lieutenant S.E. Callard, East Yorkshire Regiment, was killed near Pilkem on 23rd April, 1915. 2nd Lieutenant M.E. Callard had only been married three months previous to his death."

Northampton Chronicle and Echo 4th February 1915 - "LOCAL CASUALTIES. DIED OF WOUNDS. CALLARD, SEC.-LIEUT. M.E., 1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. Second-Lieutenant Malcolm Ernest Callard, who received his commission in the North Lancashire Regiment in 1903, joined the Reserve of Officers in 1908. He was wounded near Bethune on January 25, and died the same day. He was educated at Clifton College, and was the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Callard, of Great Missenden, Bucks."

See also: Loyal Regiment.

The War Diary for the January 26th records: " At BEUVRY. A quiet night for us but heavy and continuous firing heard in the direction of GIVENCHY. The companies were re allotted to billets in the village on account of the fact that the Germans had shelled it the day before. At 9.30 a.m. Orderly Room was being held in D Coy's billets in a paved yard surrounded by buildings. It was a particularly large Orderly Room on account of yesterday's being interrupted by our sudden move from BETHUNE. A high explosive shell falling almost perpendicularly struck the yard in the midst of us and detonated with great violence. The havoc was awful! 2nd Lieut. G.E. Burdekin was killed. Lieut J. G. Halsted woudned [in his legs and arm] 2/Lieut M. E. Callard was severely wounded in both legs."

Citations & Commemorations :

Masonic :

Joined Kinta Lodge on 7th May 1910

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