BORN – Oswestry
HOMEFRONT – Place / Occupation
JOB – Labourer
UNIT – 13 Bn Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment).
RANK – Private 29458
THEATRE – Ypres / Third Ypres / Frenzenberg. 13 Bn Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). 22 August 1917
DIED – KIA 22 August 1917.
BURIED – Tyne Cot Memorial (grave unknown). (CWGC)
Charles MacRoberts was born in 1892 at Oswestry, the fourth child of Thomas and Annie (Roberts). His siblings were Winifred, Thomas H, Maud, him as ‘Charley’, Rose Hilda, Mabel and Violet. Their father worked as a labourer for Oswestry Corporation. They lived at 10 Swan Crescent and later moved to 6 Mount Terrace, Castle Street, Oswestry. In 1911 Charles was working as a mineral water bottler. In 1909 his sister Winifred had married Charles Lloyd and then moved to Manchester. He would follow them and live at their house at 209 Radnor Street, Hulme where he worked as a labourer. In May 1914, he married Marion Ethel (Dunne). They would live at various addresses, again, in Hulme, Manchester. They would have a baby girl, Violet Maud, born 18 May 1915. His brother Thomas also moved to Manchester and also lived in Hulme.
Around this time too the family, or at least Charles and Thomas, changed their surname from Roberts to MacRoberts. Possibly this was to assert their Scottish ancestry (as opposed to Welsh) although no Scots can be traced in their genealogy. This too seems to have influenced their choice to join Scottish regiments.
Charles enlisted at Manchester on 24 November 1915 joining 18 Reserve Battalion Royal Scots at Ripon 2 days later. As with many soldiers he had dental work courtesy of the army – having 12 extractions and new dentures. Also, during his training, he was disciplined for absence in December 1916 – sanctioned with 2 days loss of pay and confinement to barracks. He went over to France on 11 July 1917 to 2 Bn Royal Scots but was then transferred to 13 Bn Royal Scots at the end of the month. He was KIA about 3 weeks later on 22 August 1917 in fighting at Frezenberg during Third Ypres . His body was not found and he was declared dead for official purposes. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial
Charles’s brother Thomas Henry also served, in 9 Bn Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) enlisting at Manchester. He was KIA 23 March 1918 and, as has no known grave, he is remembered on the Pozieres Memorial (CWGC)
Acknowledgements.
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