Lieutenant Charles S.T. Calder, Royal Engineers

Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis, MSCE, PE, MInstRE
Ó 2021. All Rights Reserved.

The principal references used in the preparation of this narrative were from a number of sources. They include census records, official registries in the United Kingdom, a number of family trees, Army Lists, and The London Gazette. All sources are contained in the REFERENCE section at the end of the narrative and are cited throughout in the ENDNOTES. Every effort has been made to accurately portray the life and military service of Captain Calder.

This research was prompted by the author’s acquisition of a photograph album containing numerous photographs of Captain Calder during his time in the Army. The album contains 53 photos varying in size from small 2½” x 1¾” snapshots to 3½” x 5½” size photos. Fortunately many of the photos had been annotated by Captain Calder showing places and dates. Except where noted, all photographs in this work are from the Calder album.

2. FAMILY INFORMATION AND EARLY LIFE

Charles Shaw Tyrie Calder’s parents were James Calder (1855-1906) and Martha Cuthbert Calder, née Petrie (1854-1915). In addition to Charles, the Calders had four other children, all daughters. His sisters were: Betsy Masterton Calder (1879-1959), Maggie Kinnear Calder (1882-1945), Lizzie Calder (1884 - ?) and Agnes Petrie Calder (1893-1986).

Charles Shaw Tyrie Calder was born in Forfar, Angus, Scotland on the 1^st of March 1891. In May of 1891 the Calder family was living at 45 West High Street in Forfar.

Figure 2. 45 West High Street, Forfar, Scotland (building with the red door)
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)

The 1891 Census of Scotland provides the following information regarding the Calder family:

Address: 45 High Street, Forfar, Angus
Name and Surname of each Person	Relation	Age
Martha Calder	Head	37
Betsy Calder	Daughter	12
Maggie Calder	Daughter	9
Lizzie Calder	Daughter	7
Charles Calder	Son	2 mos

Census Roll: CSSCT1891_99

James Calder apparently was not at home when the 1891 census was taken, as his wife is shown as the head of the family. A family tree (jbax666) shows him residing at 35 St. Peter Street, Lochee, Dundee, Angus, Scotland at the time of the 1891 census.

The 1901 Census of Scotland provides the following information regarding the Calder family:

Address: 20 Montrose Road, Forfar, Angus
Name and Surname of each Person	Relation	Age
James Calder	Head	46
Martha P. Calder	Wife	47
Betsy Calder	Daughter	22
Maggie Calder	Daughter	19
Lizzie Calder	Daughter	17
Charles Calder	Son	9
Aggie Calder	Daughter	7

Census Roll: CSSCT1901_107

The 1901 census shows James Calder back at home with his family and includes Agnes (“Aggie”) Petrie Calder who had been born on the 10^th of August 1893. Unfortunately the Calder family home at 20 Montrose Road no longer exists.

James Calder died at the Montrose Road address on the 13^th of May 1906 while Charles was 15 years old and presumably a student at a local school in Forfar. In 1914 at the age of 23, after receiving his degree in Architecture, Charles joined the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments, Scotland (RCAHMS). While with the Royal Commission, and during the early years of the Great War of 1914-1918, he explored Neolithic cairns and buildings in Scotland.[1]

Charles was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers Territorial Force from an Officer Cadet Unit on the 30^th of March 1918.[2] From the photographs in his album he took part in bridging training in Newark on Trent and Southwell in Nottinghamshire and on the River Barrow at Monasterevan, Ireland. During his time in Ireland he was posted to The Curragh.


Figure 3. Officers and Men on the Embankment Under a Timber Trestle Bridge.	Figure 4. Officers and Men on the Completed Timber Trestle Bridge.

Although Charles Calder would have been of age to join the forces at the start of the Great War in 1914, for some reason he was not commissioned until early in 1918, only about eight months before the end of the war. Since he was commissioned from an Officer Cadet Unit at a university, perhaps his studies kept him from joining sooner. His work with the RCAHMS may have been another reason for his delayed commissioning. In any case he did join up and after a period of just over five months, most of that time spent in training, he was posted to France on the 6^th of October 1918[3] with his company, the 529^th (East Riding) Field Company, Royal Engineers, a unit of the British 3^rd Infantry Division.[4]

The 529^th Field Company was involved in the Battle of Cambrai between the 8^th and 9^th of October, so depending on how quickly Calder joined the company after arriving in France, he may or may not have taken part in this action. In all likelihood he was with the company at the Battle of the Selle during the period from the 17^th through the 25^th of October and at the Battle of the Sambre on the 4^th of November.[5] Following the Armistice on the 11^th of November 1918, Calder and his company became part of the occupation forces in Germany. A photograph in the album dated 11 December 1918 shows the transport section of the 529^th Field Company crossing into Germany.

Photographs in the album show that Calder was in Cologne and Blankenheim, Germany during his time with the occupation forces.

On the 29^th of September 1919 Calder was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant,[6] presumably while he was in Germany and before he returned home for demobilization from the Army. For his service in the Great War he was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal as shown in the Medal Index Card (MIC) below.

Figure 9. The Great War Medal Index Card of Lieutenant C.S.T. Calder, R.E
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

On the 29^th of January 1922 Calder applied to the War Office for the medals he had earned during the war. At the time that he applied for the medals he was residing at 15 Queens Street in Edinburgh. His medals were issued to him on the 14^th of March 1922.

Charles Calder retained his rank in the Territorial Force after the Great War and in the Territorial Army during the interwar years. When war broke out in 1939 Calder appears to have been eager to do his part again in the Army. On the 14^th of January 1941 at almost 50 years of age he relinquished his commission in the Territorial Army to enlist in the ranks.[7] However, because of his prior service and his education and experience, the Army appears to have seen fit to reinstate him as an officer in the Territorial Army. He served with the Royal Engineers throughout the war and in 1949 he retired from the Territorial Army with the rank of Lieutenant (Honorary Captain). He probably served at home (in the U.K.) with no active service abroad.

The following sections are presented in tabular form to summarize Calder’s promotions and the medals that he was awarded or may have been awarded during his time in the Army. They are provided to give the reader easy access to these aspects of his military career. The tables are followed by sections dealing with his marriage, personal information and post-service life.

Date of Promotion or Appointment	Rank or Position
30 March 1918	Commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers (Territorial Force).
30 September 1918	Promoted Lieutenant.
1949	Retired from the Territorial Army as an Honorary Captain.

For his service in the Great War Lieutenant Calder was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal. He could possibly have received the 1939-45 War Medal, Defence Medal and Territorial Efficiency Medal or perhaps the Territorial Decoration for his service during the Second World War. No evidence has been uncovered to verify these awards, but given his service during WW2, these awards are possible. The medals mentioned here are shown below.


British War Medal and Victory Medal	Defence Medal	1939-45 War Medal	Territorial Decoration

Honorary Captain Charles Shaw Tyrie Calder was released from service in 1949,[8] having retired from the Territorial Army. His total service was reckoned as shown in the tables below:

Location	Period of Service
Home	30 March 1918 – 5 October 1918
France	6 October 1918 – 30 September 1919
Home (Territorial Army)	1 October 1919 - 1949

Location	Period of Service
Home Service	190 days
Service Abroad	372 days (approximate)
Territorial Army Service	29 years and 255 days (approximate)
Total Service	30 years and 197 days (approximate)

Charles Calder was appointed an Assistant Architect and Draughtsman with the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments, Scotland on the 6^th of June 1924.[9] After his appointment he became active as an Investigator in the resurgence of studies of Neolithic sites in Scotland.[10]

By 1931 he had become an Associate of the Edinburgh Architectural Association and during the early 1930s he excavated two Iron Age roundhouses on the Calf of Eday and in the late 1930s he worked on other sites on Eday and the Calf of Eday, an uninhabited island in Orkney, Scotland lying north east of Eday, and prepared the first complete description of the Dwarfie Stane on Hoy. The Dwarfie Stane is a megalithic chambered tomb carved out of a titanic block of Devonian Old Red Sandstone located in a steep-sided glaciated valley between the settlements of Quoys and Rackwick on Hoy, an island in Orkney, Scotland. The stone is a glacial erratic located in desolate peatland. There is an entrance and a hollow area in the stone that is thought to have been a tomb.

Calder’s residence address in 1931 was 122 George Street in Edinburgh, an address associated with His Majesty’s Office of Works during that period. In 1939 his home address was 15 Gardiner Road, Blackhall and his business address during this same year was 27 York Place in Edinburgh.[11]

In 1940 Calder conducted an emergency excavation of a broch in Caithness before it was destroyed to make way for the Royal Air Force field at Skitten. He found a saddle quern, grain rubbers, dishes, knocking stones, anvils, tether stones, pot lids, pounders and smoothing stones, a pestle and a whorl as well as fragments of circular querns dating after the Roman period.[12]

In 1946 Charles Calder was appointed the Senior Investigator by the RCAHMS. He explored the Stanydale site, a temple on mainland Shetland, in 1949 and in 1951 he was appointed the Principal Investigator for the RCAHMS. He retired in 1960, having distinguished himself as an Archeologist, Architect, Architectural Historian, Draughtsman and Surveyor.[13]

Figure 11. Putting the Finishes Touches to a Survey Drawing in 1947.
(Photograph courtesy of the RCAHMS and Wikipedia)

Charles Shaw Tyrie Calder died at St. Margaret’s Hospital in Auchterarder, Scotland on the 3^rd of December 1972 at the age of 81.[14]

Charles Calder’s father, James Calder, had been born in the Sparrowcroft section of Forfar, Scotland on the 24^th of June 1855. The 1901 Census of Scotland indicates that he was a Mason by trade. He died in Forfar on the 13^th of May 1906 at the age of 51.[15]

Charles’ mother, Martha Cuthbert Calder, was born in Forfar in 1854 (exact date unknown). She and James Calder were married on the 31^st of December 1877 at 6 Archies Park in Forfar. Martha died at 20 Montrose Road in Forfar on the 11^th of July 1915 at the age of 61.[16]

Following his demobilization from the Army Calder returned to Scotland. On the 7^th of September 1921 he married Isabella Bird (1892-1940) at 35 Cleptington Road in Dundee, Angus. Isabella was the only daughter of Mr. John Bird of Calcutta, India.[17] Isabella Calder died in Edinburgh on the 31^st of January 1940.

Figure 12. The House at 35 Clepington Road in Dundee where the Calders Lived when They were Married.
(Photograph courtesy of Google Earth)

On the 10^th of October 1922 Isabella Calder gave birth to a son, James Bird Calder (1922-2006) in Edinburgh. James emigrated to the United States and took up residence in Derry, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. He died there on the 1st April 2006 at the age of 83.[18]

Charles’ sister Mooreen was born in Edinburgh on the 12^th of January 1925. Like her brother she emigrated to the United States and resided in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She died there on the 31^st of January 1988 at the age of 63.[19]

Figure 16. These Non-Commissioned Officers are Identified by Calder as:
(from left to right): Quartermaster Sergeant Brackenridge, Sergeant Philip and Sergeant McDonald.