Roll of Honour
Lieutenant
Christopher Mittelhausen Hird
Christopher Mittelhausen Hird was born on the 8th May 1895 in Old Charlton, Kent. He was the son of William Benison Hird and Jenny Bertha Hird (nee Mittelhausen), who moved to Glasgow shortly after his birth, residing at 9 Albion Street, Govan. Christopher's younger brother Raymond was born around 1900. By the time of Christopher's death, his parents were living at 6 Talbot Terrace, Scotstounhill, Glasgow.
Christopher attended Allan Glen's School in Glasgow before starting work as an apprentice accountant in the firm of McLay, McAlister and McGibbon. In session 1913-1914, he enrolled as a day student of the Royal Technical College of Glasgow, now the University of Strathclyde. The College register records his address as ‘Sandon’, a handsome villa in Cambuslang, and his classes as Architecture and Descriptive Geometry, which suggests that his career path had changed.
In 1912, Christopher joined the Officers' Training Corps which was at the University of Glasgow, though he was not a student there. Soon after the outbreak of war, in September 1914, he received his commission with the 12th Bn. The Cameronians with whom he went to the Dardanelles. In 1916 he moved to the 8th Bn. Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment), and in July of that year he was attached to the 1st/4th Bn. Northamptonshire Regiment, travelling with them to Egypt. Lieutenant Christopher Mittelhausen Hird died on the 19th April 1917 during the Second Battle of Gaza, aged 22. He is buried in the Gaza War Cemetery and is remembered on the Roll of Honour of the Royal Technical College, The University of Glasgow Roll of Honour, The Godstone War Memorial and Roll of Honour at St Nicholas Church, Surrey, and the City of Glasgow Roll of Honour.
Comments and Citations
Biographical information: Records of the Glasgow Provincial Training College, forerunner of Jordanhill College of Education - now the University of Strathclyde). Information provided by Dr Anne Cameron, Archives Assistant, University of