Ian Kenneth Matheson
| Rank: | Captain |
| Regiment: | Seaforth Highlanders, 2nd Batallion |
| Country: | France |
| Cemetary/Memorial: | Etaples Cemetary, Departement du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France (Ref. XVII.B.17) |
| Awards: | British War Medal Victory Medal |
Born on 14th May 1893 in Chelsea, London, Captain Matheson died in hospital at Etaples of wounds received in action at Roeux, France, on 13th May 1917. He was aged 23.
Ian was the eldest son of Sir Alexander Perceval of Lochalsh, 3rd Baronet (1861-1929) and Lady Eleanor Matheson (nee Money, 1864-1959) of Ardarun, Littlehampton, Sussex.
He had two brothers, Roderick Kyrle (1897-1916) and Alexander Perceval (1895-1917) who also served and perished in the Great War. He also had four sisters, Margaret Anna (1886-1948), Muriel Helen (1890-1970), Norah (1890-1967) and Eleanor (b.1895).
Like his brothers, Ian attended Saint Ronan’s. In 1902, after two terms at the school, he took an 18 month sojourn in France.
He rejoined Saint Ronan’s in September 1903. In 1905 Ian won a special prize for his school work and in the Autumn term he was appointed Prefect.
He went on to Wellington and entered the Orange House in 1907. His brother, Roderick, followed him.
In 1911, he went on to the Royal Miltary College. He was gazetted to the Seaforth Highlanders in 1912, but retired and went to British Columbia.
At the outbreak of the War he rejoined his regiment. In August 1914 the Batallion were mobilised for war as part of the British Expeditionary Force and landed in France where they engated in various actions on the Western Front. Captain Matheson had been at the Front since May 1915 where he would have been involved in the Second Battle of Ypres.
Ian’s brothers also served and sadly perished in the War:
• Alexander Perceval served as a Lieutenant and Acting Flight Commander with the Royal Flying Corps. He was killed in action on 13th July 1917, aged 22, after his plane was shot down over Belgium.
• Roderick Kyrle served as a Second Lieutenant with the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), 3rd Battalion, attached Manchester Regiment, 20th Battalion, 30th Division. He was taken prisoner and died of his wounds at Ginchy in France on 8th September 1916. He was 18 years old.
The brothers are also commemorated on the Littlehampton War Memorial, Sussex.
