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69338 Sapper
HUGH STUART WHITEHILL
Royal Engineers 

By 

Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis, MSCE, BSAE P.E., MinstRE
(April 2025) 

Figure 1. Sapper Hugh Stuart Whitehill, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum) 

1. INTRODUCTION

Sapper Whitehill’s story is based on a research work previously done by the author, with data added to the story that specifically pertains to Whitehill.  The previous work was based on the author’s acquisition of the British War Medal and Victory Medal named to 69348 Sapper J. Methven, R.E.[1] and the Haynes Medallion from the School of Military Engineering named to 1867976 Sapper J. Methven, R.E. for being the Best Man in Field Works in 126 Party, in “A” Company, of the Royal Engineers Training Battalion. 

The first two medals were issued to a Sapper Methven for his service in the Great War of 1914-1918.  Based on a study of Methven’s regimental number (69348) it was determined that he served in the 138^th Army Troops Company, Royal Engineers, the same company in which Sapper Whitehill served.[2]  Methven survived the war.  Unfortunately Whitehill did not. 

2. FAMILY INFORMATION 

            Hugh Stuart Whitehill was born at 10 Alva Place in Mostin Park, Edinburgh, Scotland on 22 January 1882.  He was the son of Hugh Stuart Whitehill (1845-1927), a letterpress printer, and his wife Margaret Whitehill, née MacCallum (1846-1933).  In addition to Hugh, the Whitehills had six other children: three sons and three daughters as shown in the 1891 Census of England in the table below.  At the time that this census was taken the family was living in Sherborne, Dorsetshire, a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, sited on the River Yeo on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, 6 miles east of Yeovil. 

1891 Census of England  

             In 1901 the Whitehill family was still living in Sherborne, but at a different address, as shown in the table below. 

1901 Census of England 

            By the time of the 1911 Census the Whitehill family had moved yet again. 

1911 Census of England and Wales 

Figure 2.  The Whitehill Residence at 5, The Avenue, Tottenham, Middlesex.
(Image courtesy of Google Earth)

3.  ENLISTMENT AND TRAINING 

Enlistment

            Whitehill’s military service papers were not available at The National Archives, so his exact date of enlistment is not known.  However, based on his regimental number and the unit to which he was posted following his enlistment and training, it is probable that he enlisted sometime in the spring or summer of 1915. 

As the Royal Engineers expanded for service in the Great War of 1914-1918, in addition to divisional field companies, each Corps was organized with two or more Army Troops (A.T.) companies.  The A.T. companies were first produced by converting the four regular fortress companies already in France – the 20^th , 25^th , 31^st and 42^nd, and the two Special Reserve siege companies of the Royal Anglesey and Royal Monmouthshire Engineers (which each formed two A.T. Companies), and ten Territorial fortress companies.  In the spring of 1915 eighteen new companies, numbered from 132 to 149, were raised and trained at Buxton in Derbyshire.  Initially they were called Fortress Companies, but in August of 1915 they were renamed Army Troops Companies.  The 138^th Company, to which Whitehill was posted, was one of these new Fortress Companies of the Territorial Force.[3]

Training

            Following the administrative actions involved with his enlistment, Sapper Whitehill may have been sent off for his recruit training to the School of Military Engineering (SME) at Brompton Barracks in Chatham, Kent.  With the exception of Drivers, every recruit enlisted for the Royal Engineers had to have a trade.  Pioneers and Sappers were sent to Chatham where they were trained in infantry drill and pioneer duties.  The engineer recruits also received musketry training.  When the course of training was completed the recruits had to pass an examination and were then transferred to engineer formations, where they received higher pay and could earn extra allowances by working at their special trades.  Following the completion of this training, Sapper Whitehill was posted to the 138^th (Fortress) Company at Buxton.

4. POSTINGS, ASSIGNMENTS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

France and Flanders (1915-1917)

            On 8 August 1915 while at Buxton, the 138^th (Fortress) Company was alerted for deployment to France and proceeded to Southampton, arriving there on 9 August.  The company sailed immediately and was at Le Havre on 10 August.  The company began the march inland, arriving at La Buissière on 12 August and at Annequin in the Pas-de-Calais on the 13^th where it came under the control of British I Corps.[4]  At the time of its arrival in France the 138^th (Fortress) Company was under the command of Captain John Palgrave Heathcote Ouchterlony, R.E.[5]

Figure 3.  Major John Palgrave Heathcote Ouchterlony, DSO, R.E.
(Photograph courtesy of De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour, 1914-1919)

            On 17 August 1915 while the company was at Annequin, it was re-designated the 138^th Army Troops Company.  Ten days later (27 August), while still under the control of British I Corps, the company moved to Mazingarbe.[6] 

            The 138^th Army Troops Company would remain in the Pas-de-Calais sector of France supporting various Corps in the rear area until the summer of 1917 when it moved into Belgium to take part in the Battle of Pilckem, near Ypres. 

The Work of the 138^th Army Troops Company

            The 138^th Company worked in Corps rear areas primarily on water supply, corps defence lines, observation posts for artillery, gun positions for heavy artillery, trench tramways, road-screening, corps engineer dumps and workshops and erection of hangars for the Royal Flying Corps.  Army Troops Companies were smaller than divisional field companies.  They were established with three officers and 139 other ranks, but they were provided with mechanical transport which was an advantage they had over the divisional companies.[7] 

            Although the company worked primarily in the rear area, it was not immune from battle casualties as will be seen in the next section describing the chronology of the company.  In fact, the company suffered 14 Other Ranks casualties (fatalities, excluding wounded) during the war.  This was a fatality rate of approximately 10 percent of its authorized strength.  No officer casualties were found during this research project except for Major Ouchterlony, who was killed in action while serving with another unit and was replaced by Captain Rhubert William Henry Mellor, R.E. 

Chronology of Service of the 138^th Army Troops Company[8]

            The following is a chronological outline of the service of the company in France and Flanders.  It includes the locations of the company headquarters on certain dates, the campaigns and battles in which it participated and fatal casualties it suffered during its time in the theater of war.  Sapper Whitehill’s presence in the battles listed can only be assumed.  There may have been times when he was not present in the unit, such as times when he was in hospital or granted leave.  Where he was present in the company for a particular battle, the battle is shown in bold print.  Whitehill’s name appears in three pages of the company’s War Diary.

25 September – 5 October 1915:        The company was under British IV Corps control during the Battle of Loos.

1 February 1916:                                 The company was at Lozinghem with IV Corps.

13 March 1916:                                   Company at Gouy-Servins.  During this period the company War Diary shows many admissions to hospital for various ailments.  During most of 1916 the company worked on rear area projects with sections working at various locations throughout the Lozinghem area.

10 January 1917:                                 The company War Diary lists the first casualty of the war stating that 80865 Driver William Powell was “found dead.”  No explanation is given for his death.[9]

2 March 1917:                                     The company was at Avesnes Les Bapaume with IV Corps.

3-17 May 1917:                                  The company took part in the Battle of Bullecourt with I ANZAC Corps.

June 1917:                                           The company suffered many casualties wounded in action, probably associated with the Bullecourt action.

15 July 1917:                                      69451 Corporal Charles John Jackson, killed in action. His death was not entered in the company War Diary until 21 July.

20 July 1917:                                      Sapper Whitehill to hospital for dental treatment.

31 July – 2 August 1917:                    The company was engaged in the Battle of Pilckem with British XIX Corps.  Sapper Whitehill still in hospital.

16-18 August 1917:                            The company took part in the Battle of Langemarck with British XIX Corps.  Sapper Whitehill still in hospital.

21 August 1917:                                  The death of 51500 Lance Corporal Thomas Percey Horton was recorded in the war diary, probably as a result of the action at Langemarck. Horton was killed in action.

25 August 1917:                                  Sapper Whitehill discharged from hospital and rejoins his company.

6 September 1917:                              The death of 93055 Sapper Manus Devine was listed in the War Diary as killed in action.[10]

20-25 September 1917:                       The company took part in the Battle of Menin Road with British V Corps.

26 September – 3 October 1917:        The company was engaged in the Battle of Polygon Wood with II ANZAC Corps.

4 October 1917:                                  The company took part in the Battle of Broodseinde with II ANZAC Corps.

6 October 1917:                                  Lance Corporal Ernest Goodhead, killed in action.[11]

7 October 1917:                                  The company was engaged in the Battle of Poelcappelle with II ANZAC Corps.

12 October 1917:                                The company took part in the First Battle of Passchendaele with II ANZAC Corps. 

26 October – 10 November 1917:      The company was involved in the Second Battle of Passchendaele with the Canadian Corps.  The company headquarters at this time was at Dixmude.  This battle cost the company many wounded in action along with the following fatalities: 

                                                            143747 Sapper Edmund Spencer Smith, died of wounds, 28 October.[12] 

                                                            69338 Sapper Hugh Whitehill, killed in action 28 October. 

                                                            146575 Sapper Leonard Charles Russell, died of wounds, 28 October. 

                                                            97373 Sapper Christopher George Baker, died of wound, 30 October.[13] 

            The circumstances of Sapper Whitehill’s death were described to his mother in a letter from Captain Mellor, his company commander. 

The letter reads as follows: 

Dear Mrs Whitehill, it is with feelings of deepest [sinpithy] that I have to tell you that your son was killed this afternoon.  Sapper & 16 men had just been out and had successfully accomplished a most dangerous job and had returned, was in fact within one hundred yards of house when a shell arrived and killed him instantly.  It may help to soften the blow to know that he died not [sufer] at all. 

As is usual I shall send his small effects & treasures in the box and they will be returned to you in due course.  If I can be of any use to you as regards any further details please do not hesitate to write and ask, as I shall be only too happy to let you know anything you wish.

Yours in deepest [sympithy]

R.U.M. Mellor, Captain

O.C., 138 A.T. Comp R.E.

            It appears that the letter had been written by a company clerk and not by Captain Mellor himself.  He may have dictated the letter to someone.  Misspelled words in the note such as sympathy [sinpithy and sympithy] and suffer [sufer] as well as Captain Mellor’s incorrect initials R.U.M. rather then R.W.H. clearly indicate that Mellor did not write the letter. 

            Sappers Smith, Russell and Baker appear to have been hit by shrapnel from the same shell that killed Whitehill.  They subsequently died of their wounds.  

            Sapper Whitehill was buried in the Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, Section I, Plot 1, Grave 41.

5.      MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

Sapper Whitehill was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal for his service during the war. 

Figure 6.  Sapper Whitehill’s Medals.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)[14] 

Figure 7.  The Great War Medal Index Card of 69338 Sapper Hugh Stuart Whitehill, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

            The medals were presented to his family after the war.  The family also received a bronze Memorial Plaque to commemorate Hugh’s death during the war.

Figure 8.  Sapper Whitehill’s Memorial Plaque.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)[15]

Figure 9.  The Scroll Accompanying the Memorial Plaque.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)[16]

REFERENCES

Census 

1. 1891 Census of England (RG 12/1658).

2. 1901 Census of England (RG 13/2008).

3. 1911 Census of England and Wales.  

Commonwealth War Graves Commission 

1. List of casualties of the 138^th Army Troops Company.

2. Memorial Scroll.

3. Cemetery Information.  

Correspondence 

Letter from the Officer Commanding, 138^th Army Troops Company to the mother of Sapper Whitehill, dated 28 October 1917, re: his death. 

Family Tree 

Family Tree of Hugh Stuart Whitehill (1882-1917) by michaelingall. 

Medal Rolls 

1. Medal Index Card.

2. Royal Engineers Medal Roll, 1914-15 Star.

3. Royal Engineers Medal Roll, British War Medal and Victory Medal.  

Military Documents 

Pension Card of Sapper Hugh Stuart Whitehill. 

Periodicals 

Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers (138^th Army Troops Company). The Royal Engineers Journal, The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1925-1932. 

War Diary of the 138^th Army Troops Company 

1. 23-26 July 1917.

2. 27 July -25 August 1917.

3. 27 October – 31 October 1917.

ENDNOTES