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John Couper (Coupar) MYERS was a Captain in the Scottish Horse Battalion; this was part of the Regiment of the Household Cavalry and Cavalry of the Line. He is shown on the 1911 Census as a servant to Mr Heywood at Glevering Hall but it is not known when he began that service; it is believed he was Mr Heywood's personal valet. He is shown as single, aged 36 and was born at Fortingall, Perthshire. He died on the 4th May 1918 and is remembered on the Loos Memorial.
He was killed in Northern France on 4th May 1918 so would have been aged 43 (according to his age as recorded in 1911). His rank is listed as Captain but in the probate records he is listed as a Lieutenant. He is reported as living at 43 New Cavendish Street, Middlesex. He left £619 17s 6d to William Hunt and James Cairns (nurses).
The Loos Memorial forms the sides and back of Dud Corner Cemetery. Loos-en-Gohelle is a village 5 kilometres north-west of Lens, and Dud Corner Cemetery is located about 1 kilometre west of the village, to the north-east of the D943, the main Lens to Bethune road.
Dud Corner Cemetery stands almost on the site of a German strong point, the Lens Road Redoubt, captured by the 15th (Scottish) Division on the first day of the battle. The name "Dud Corner" is believed to be due to the large number of unexploded enemy shells found in the neighbourhood after the Armistice. The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave, who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay, from the first day of the Battle of Loos to the end of the war. On either side of the cemetery is a wall 15 feet high, to which are fixed tablets on which are carved the names of those commemorated. At the back are four small circular courts, open to the sky, in which the lines of tablets are continued, and between these courts are three semicircular walls or apses, two of which carry tablets, while on the centre apse is erected the Cross of Sacrifice. The memorial was designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Charles Wheeler. It was unveiled by Sir Nevil Macready on 4 August 1930.
The following is a link to John's page on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website from where you can download John's Commemorative Certificate.
Grateful thanks are extended to Sally Whiffing of Ipswich Record Office for identifying John Couper (Coupar) Myers.
David Clough and Richard Ginn
August 2018