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ARCHIBALD McKECHNIE TYSON, M.M. – AMBULANCE DRIVER.
A Service of Commemoration was held in St Giles’ Churchyard, Stoke Poges, on 29th October 2005 following his recognition as an official war casualty and the erection of a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone on his grave. This was the culmination of a campaign by Cllr. Lionel Rigby to get Private Tyson recognised and required a great deal of detailed research to prove the case.
The ceremony was attended by Mr Kenneth Ross, Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire; Mr Dominic Grieve, MP; Dr.Barry Scott, Chairman of South Bucks District Council; Kathie Webber, Chairman of Stoke Poges Parish Council; Lieut.Col T.H.Ridgway, Royal Logistical Corps the successor of the Army Service Corps; and about seventy other people.
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The Royal British Legion Flag is lowered whilst Corporal Young of the Royal Logistics Corps sounds the Last Post.
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Poppy Wreath laid by Kenneth Ross, Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, along with several Poppy Crosses laid by the other Dignitaries present.
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Mr Kenneth Ross D.L. with Mrs Barbara Rigby. In the background, Andrew Parry (Church Warden), Parish Cllr. Stan Best and County & District Cllr Peter Hardy. |
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Lt. Col. Tom Ridgway, his wife Gweneth Ridgway D.L. with Lionel Rigbywhose effortseventually resulted in Private Tyson being recognised as an official casualty by the War Graves Commision. |
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| Archibald McKechnie Tyson joined the army in October 1915 and became an ambulance driver. In December 1917 he was awarded the Military Medal. Later, in March 1918, he met with an accident when he fell from the top of his ambulance whilst conveying wounded from the field dressing station near Bapaume, in France. This was three days after the Germans launched their great offensive and crossed the Somme and the day before they captured Bapaume. Tyson’s injuries led to his discharge and the award of a pension but as a result he continued to suffer pain in his back. |
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He married Margaret Ann Ferguson in Wandsworth, London, early in 1916 and they had a son at the end of that year who was named John F. Tyson. If alive today the son would be 89.
The family came to Stoke Poges, probably in 1919, and lived in Rough Hey Cottage at a time when Sir Hugh Bray, who had been director of contracts in India with the rank of brigadier-general, lived in Rough Hey, the main house. Archibald Tyson was described on his death certificate as a chauffeur and may well have been employed in this capacity by Sir Hugh Bray.
His death certificate also records that he died of severe wounds received during the war and that he had been gassed. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone on his grave in St Giles’ Churchyard and the service of commemoration held on Saturday 29 th October 2005 means that he is now fittingly recognised. |
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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone on Private Tyson’s grave in St Giles’ Churchyard. |
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