Ronald Duncan Macdonald - Royal Field Artillery, “B” Battery, 82nd Brigade

 Second Lieutenant Ronald Duncan Macdonald - Royal Field Artillery, “B” Battery, 82^nd Brigade

Early Life and Family

Ronald Duncan Macdonald was born in 1895 in Bristol, the son of Duncan Macdonald and Emilie Eliza Strover Hurn. 

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the family were residing at 2 Limerick Road, Bristol. Duncan, a native of Scotland aged 50, was recorded as living on his own means, while his Bristol-born wife Emilie was 41. Their only child at that time was Ronald, aged 5. Two domestic servants, Susan Welsford and Alice Millard, were also part of the household.

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the family had moved to Swansea and were residing at 62 Walter Road. Duncan, then 58, was a Mineral Water Manufacturer, assisted in the business by Emilie, aged 50. Ronald, 15, was attending school. The household again included two servants.

Military Service

Ronald Duncan Macdonald was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery, serving with “B” Battery, 82^nd Brigade. The brigade was equipped with 18-pounder field guns and formed part of the artillery supporting British operations on the Western Front.

Passchendaele – 31^st October 1917

On 31^st October 1917, “B” Battery was engaged during a major phase of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), specifically the Second Battle of Passchendaele. Field batteries such as Ronald’s were responsible for firing creeping barrages ahead of advancing infantry, engaging German strongpoints, and conducting counter-battery fire against enemy guns.

Conditions at this stage of the campaign were notoriously severe. Continuous shellfire and heavy rain had turned the battlefield into deep mud, making it extremely difficult to maintain gun positions or move ammunition forward. German artillery, aided by aerial observation, subjected British gun lines to sustained and accurate counter-battery fire. Officers supervising gun positions or observing fall of shot were particularly vulnerable.

It was during these intense operations on 31^st October 1917 that Second Lieutenant Ronald Duncan Macdonald was killed.

Burial

Ronald Duncan Macdonald
Bard Cottage Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
credit - findagrave

He is buried at Bard Cottage Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, a cemetery closely associated with the heavy fighting in the Ypres Salient during the autumn of 1917