Friends of Hastings Cemetery

LU A26

IN

LOVING MEMORY OF

OUR BELOVED MOTHER

ALICE MARY ORR

WHO DIED 28TH October 1958

AND OUR FATHER

WILLIAM ORR MC.

WHO DIED 1st March 1959

William Orr MC was born on 30th August 1880, in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

He practiced as an accountant before joining the Highland Light Infantry in 1915 and was soon afterwards appointed a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Scots Fusiliers.  He was sent to France in 1916 where he was in the trenches for the final months of the Battle of the Somme.

In April 1917, he fought in the Battle of Arras during the advance Guemappe.

In June 1917 he as acting Captain, he was sent to Belgium to fight in the 3rd Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). The four companies of the Royal Scots Fusiliers (about 600 soldiers) had to attack a small Hill near Zonnebeke where the Germans had their guns and were stopping the Allies advancing.  Most of the officers were killed and some of the soldiers started to retreat.  William Orr took over two of the Companies.

He was later awarded the Military Cross for Gallantry in this Battle. His citation in the London Gazette reads,

“For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in keeping his company firm and re-forming a continuous line when the troops on his left withdrew in face of an enemy counter-attack. He thereby enabled the key of the position to be retained.”

He is mentioned for this incident in John Buchan's History of the Royal Scots Fusiliers ( p. 389) - 'Later in the evening an enemy attack was repulsed, and the Fusiliers, notably the two right companies under Captain Orr, maintained virtually all the ground they had won on the slopes of Hill 40'. (He was a friend of John Buchan's younger brother, Alastair, who was in the same Regiment and was killed at the Battle of Arras.)

They moved from Scotland in 1935  partly for health reasons, he had been gassed as well as shot in World War 1.  They first stayed with his brother, Daniel, who had been in the Far East and moved to St Leonard’s or Hastings, where he had bought a large hotel on the front.

In World War 2 William joined the RAF as a Flying Officer and was promoted to Squadron Leader.  He was mainly involved in recruitment and was based at Biggin Hill and Northern Ireland.  In 1940 he was 70, so had he t said he was younger.

In 1956 William is living in St Leonards, at 4 The Mount.  He died in Hastings on 1 March 1959.

Alice Mary Orr (nee McCallum) was born on 29th June 1884 in Oban, Scotland, the daughter of a lawyer.  She and William were married on 29 December 1915.  She died on 28th October 1958 in Hastings.

LU A25

In Loving Memory of

Dorothy Alice Orr

Who died 12th Sept 2001

Buried next to her parents

Alice & William Orr

Rest in Peace

Dorothy was born on 4th February 1922 in Lenzie, Scotland.

She worked for the Ministry of Defence in Hastings.

In 1973 she is living at 6 Balmoral Court, Sedlescombe Gardens.

She died in Bexhill in 2001.