More about Charles James Martin

For reasons unknown, Charles is not listed on the original Dundee Roll of Honour, but is remembered on the Helles Memorial.

Family Background:

Charles` father, David, owned a brewing and distilling business in Perth and the family lived at 15 York Place and then 5 Rosemount Place, Perth. Charles went to Perth Academy and played rugby for Perthshire Rugby Club. In 1905 he went to University College, Dundee to study engineering before taking up an apprenticeship at the Caledonian Railway Works in Perth. He subsequently moved to Cooper&Greig, engineers in Dundee before joining the P&O Line in 1911. At the same time he enrolled in Dundee Technical College, gaining his 2<sup>nd</sup> Class Marine Engineers Certificate in 1912 and his First Class Certificate in early 1914. He married Margaret McKinnon Suding at the Queen`s Hotel in Dundee on 12^th September 1914 just before leaving for the war. His widow subsequently became a primary teacher and lived at Rosebank, Jedburgh. His brother John(Jack) was a Lieutenant in the Benbow and Anson Battalions who survived the war.

Service History:

Charles had served in the RNVR before joining the P&O Line in 1911. He rejoined at the outbreak of war and was appointed second in command of a machine gun section of the Hood Battalion. He was killed in action during the 3^rd Battle of Krithia at Gallipoli.

Hugh Mcrae.

Charles J Martin was the son of Mr David and Mrs Isabella Martin of 5 Rosemount Place, Perth. He was the husband of Mrs C J Martin, Rosebank, Jedburgh. In October 1914 he was commissioned in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for service in the Royal Naval Division. He was appointed to the Hood Battalion and served with it at Blandford Camp in Dorset and he appears in a Hood Battalion Officers photograph taken at the camp. The Battalion sailed from Avonmouth docks at the end of February 1915 onboard the SS Grantully Castle bound for the Dardanelles. After the failure of the Naval assault in March troops were landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula at the end of April. The Hood Battalion landed and took their place in the front line and went over the top during the Second Battle of Krithia. Charles Martin was killed on the first day of the Third Battle of Krithia but his body was not found. At Gallipoli he was the Second in Command of the Machine Gun section. He had studied Marine Engineering at Dundee Technical College and gained a Board of Trade First Class Certificate in that subject in January 1914. Prior to the war had served at sea with the P and O line as a Fourth Engineer. His brother Jack was serving as a Lieutenant in the Benbow and, later, the Anson Battalion but was invalided to Egypt and then Britain with dysentery. Charles Martin is commemorated on the Helles Memorial on Gallipoli, on the HMS Unicorn Memorial, the University of St Andrews Memorial and University College Dundee Memorial. Picture RND p432. It is probable that he served in the pre war RNVR in Dundee because his name is on the Unicorn Memorial.

Iain Stewart and Iain Birnie