First World War Victory Medal - Private Robert McCormick, Essex Regiment, late Army Service Corps
Private Robert McCormick was born in Kirkcowan, Wigtownshire, and first enlisted for wartime service in Glasgow as a member of the Army Service Corps, receiving the service number T/33160. He entered the war zone early, landing in France on 15 August 1914, qualifying him for the 1914 Star, later confirmed on the medal roll along with the clasp and roses entitlement. He served through the first years of the war in the A.S.C., one of the unsung logistics and supply units that kept the British Expeditionary Force functioning in the field, before later being transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment, where he was renumbered as 39498.
By December 1917, the 2nd Essex were serving on the Western Front as part of the 12th Brigade, 4th Division, taking part in the bitter aftermath of the Battle of Cambrai, during which the front became fluid and casualties mounted in trench raids and actions around Lateau Wood and the Flesquières Salient. It was during this period, on 15 December 1917, that Private McCormick was killed in action, aged approximately 30. His death was officially reported by the War Office and later confirmed through the Soldiers’ Effects registers.
Private McCormick has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 7, among more than 34,000 officers and men of the British Empire who fell in the Arras sector and have no known resting place.
His service and sacrifice were recorded in the War Gratuity and Effects Register, which shows that payments were made to his mother, Mrs Hannah McCormick, of Tarff Cottages, Kirkcowan, confirming his next-of-kin status and family ties to the Wigtownshire area. Her address also appears in the WW1 Pension Record Card, which details her entitlement to a dependant’s pension following his death.
From his early war entry with the Army Service Corps in 1914 to his final days with the 2nd Essex Regiment in 1917, Private McCormick served continuously on the Western Front from the opening months of the war until his death in action. His medals — the 1914 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal — represent over three years of unbroken service in France and Flanders, culminating in the ultimate sacrifice during the final winter of the conflict.
Private Robert McCormick’s story is one of a quiet and committed soldier who served from the very beginning of the war and remained in the field until his death, now remembered with honour on the walls of the Arras Memorial.
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AJMS Medals