Pauline Priano has submitted the following:-
Nothing is known of the life or family of John Carlaw. He was living at Woodhouse a ward of the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire on the outbreak of war and came to Felling, near Gateshead, County Durham, to enlist, date unknown. He was assigned as Rifleman 45306 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade a battalion of the regular Army attached to the 11th Brigade, 4th Division.
When war broke out in August 1914 the 4th Division was held back from the original British Expeditionary Force by a last minute decision to defend England against a possible German landing. The fate of the BEF in France and the lack of any move by the enemy to cross the channel, reversed this decision and they proceeded to France, landing at Le Havre on the 23rd of August 1914 in time to provide infantry reinforcements at the Battle of Le Cateau. They were in action at the Battle of the Marne, the Battle of the Aisne and the Battle of Messines in 1914. In 1915 they fought in the Second Battle of Ypres and in 1916 moved south to join the fighting on the Somme. In 1917 they were at Arras, in action during the the First and Third Battles of the Scarpe, before heading north for the Third Battle of Ypres, where they fought in the Battle of Polygon Wood, the Battle of Broodseinde, the Battle of Poelcapelle and the First Battle of Passchendaele. In 1918 they were again in action on the Somme, then returned to Flanders fighting in the Defence of Hinges Ridge during the Battle of Hazebrouck and in the Battle of Bethune, the Advance in Flanders, the Second Battles of Arras, the Battles of the Hindenburg Line and the Final Advance in Picardy. The 4th Division was demobilised in Belgium in early 1919.
Rifleman 45306 John Carlaw Rifle Brigade was killed in action August 29th 1918, his body buried on the battlefield and marked with a cross bearing his military details. After Armistice, during the clearance of the battlefields and unification of smaller cemeteries into one, his body was exhumed and brought into H. A. C. Cemetery, Ecoust-Saint Mein, Pas de Calais, France between Arras, Cambrai and Bapaume, where he was reinterred with all honour and reverence grave V. H. 30. Awards, possible 1914/15 Star and definitely the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
All monies due to him were divided between several persons. There is a mention of a widow, address unknown, legal guardians James Carlaw and Margaret Elizabeth Bryden, also John and James Carlaw, relationship to the deceased unspecified.
In God’s safe keeping. Rest In peace.
John Carlaw is remembered at Heworth on H92.03 and at Wardley on W97.01
