Stephen Lamont

Private Stephen Lamont – Manchester Regiment, 2^nd Battalion

Early Life

Stephen Lamont

1911 Census

Stephen Lamont was born in 1899 at Whitley, Cheshire, the fourth son of William and Elizabeth Lamont. By the time of the 1911 Census, he was living with his parents and siblings at 2 Griffiths Terrace, Town Hill Road, Sketty, and was recorded as a schoolboy.

Military Service

During the First World War, Stephen enlisted in the Manchester Regiment, 2^nd Battalion. His battalion served on the Western Front, taking part in some of the fiercest battles of the war.

Death

Cambrian Daily Leader

The Cambrian Daily Leader of 16^th November 1918 mistakenly reported that Stephen had been killed on 11^th November 1918 – Armistice Day. In fact, he fell a week earlier, on 4^th November 1918, during the Battle of the Sambre.

This action was one of the last major British offensives of the war. The operation aimed to force a crossing of the Sambre–Oise Canal, a key German defensive line east of Le Cateau. At dawn on 4^th November, British troops, including the 2^nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment, attacked under the cover of mist and a heavy artillery barrage.

The assault required soldiers to advance across muddy, shell-torn ground, then cross the canal by hastily erected bridges and planks, all while exposed to heavy German machine-gun and rifle fire. Losses were severe, and many men were cut down as they attempted to reach the far bank. Despite the casualties, the assault was ultimately successful, breaking through the German positions and pushing them further east.

It was in this desperate fighting, just one week before the Armistice, that Private Stephen Lamont was killed. His death came as the British Army was pressing home its final advances that would bring the war to an end.

Burial

Stephen Lamont
Ors Communal Cemetery
Credit - findagrave

Private Stephen Lamont is buried at Ors Communal Cemetery, France. His grave lies beside that of the celebrated war poet Wilfred Owen, who was also killed on 4 November in the same battle.

Legacy

Wilfred Owen

Private Stephen Lamont is commemorated on the St. Paul’s memorial, Sketty, where his name is inscribed alongside fellow parishioners who gave their lives in the Great War. His burial beside Wilfred Owen at Ors Communal Cemetery also gives his story a poignant place in the wider remembrance of the war.

For his family and his community in Sketty, Stephen’s loss on the eve of peace symbolised both the hope and the heavy price of victory.