Pilgrims to pay respects to soldier buried next to minister’s great uncle

Pilgrims are to pay their respects to a soldier who died as the First World War was drawing to a close, who is buried next to their parish minister’s great uncle.

Motherwell South Parish Church will visit the grave of Sergeant James Robertson Cowan at Vichte Military Cemetery, Belgium, on Armistice Day next Wednesday.

The group of 40 will leave for Belgium on Monday, led by parish minister Rev Alan Gibson, who discovered the soldier is buried next to his great-uncle, Daniel Gibson, who died on the same day.

His great-uncle served with the Royal Scots Fusiliers alongside Sgt Cowan, and they died on October 31 1918 while fighting in Tiegem, a Belgian village.

Rev Gibson discovered in 2023 that the two soldiers were buried next to one another, and later researched Sgt Cowan’s story.

He was the fifth of seven children, born to George and Rachel Cowan in Motherwell in 1893, joining the military in 1914.

Having signed up with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry, they later joined the Ayrshire Yeomanry to form the 12th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, serving in Gallipoli, Egypt and France.

Sgt Cowan died alongside thousands of others during the final days of the war, with the pilgrims hearing how he left behind his family and his fiancee, Nan Johnston, and has had his name commemorated on three war memorials in his home town.

Parishioners created a new book, titled The Story Of James Robertson Cowan: From Motherwell To Flanders, detailing his life.

It will be accompanied by a short film with more on his story, both of which will go public on Remembrance Sunday.

Rev Gibson said: “In 2009, I visited my great-uncle’s grave at Vichte, the first member of my family to do so. Due to the advent of genealogical information being available online, I was able to easily research his story unlike earlier generations.

“He and his brother Archie, my grandfather, both served and Archie survived the war and came home. They were from Saltcoats and initially served with the Ayrshire Yeomanry and later the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

“Over the years I have kept in touch with people in Belgium who are passionate about telling the stories behind the names of the men buried at Vichte. Around three years ago, one of them advised that I should research the name of the man buried next to my great-uncle, saying, ‘You should know him, he is from Dalzell parish’.”

He added: “I was completely taken aback, and thought, ‘Wow, this is incredible – what are the chances that somebody from my parish died on the same day as my great-uncle and is buried right next to him?’

“James Cowan was not a famous general or a politician. He was a young man who grew up on the Dalzell estate, later lived in Miller Street, went to Dalziel High School, was a member of the local Boys’ Brigade and followed his father into the local steel industry at the age of 14.

“Like so many other Scots, he left his community to serve his country. His name is on war memorials in Motherwell, but no one knew who he was or what his story was.

“Slowly we have pieced together that story, and behind the name was a son, a brother, a fiance, a steelworker and a young man whose future was taken from him. More than a century later, 40 people from the town he called home will travel to Belgium and stand beside his grave and remember him.

“We will also walk in his footsteps and visit the area where he spent the final days of his life. I think there will be something incredibly powerful about people from Motherwell standing in those same places 108 years later.”

Sergeant Thomas Caldwell of nearby Carluke in South Lanarkshire also served with the Royal Scots Fusiliers and fought alongside James Cowan and Daniel Gibson in the same battle.

Unlike them he survived and he was awarded the Victoria Cross for an act of extraordinary bravery which saw him storm an enemy position in a farmhouse and capture 18 German soldiers.