John L Stevens

John was educated at Kilmarnock Academy and enrolled at the University in 1908 to study Law. In his first year he took classes in Scots Law, followed by Law and Conveyancing in his second year. He did not take any classes in the session of 1911-1912 but returned the following year to study Logic and Moral Philosophy. In 1913-1914 he took Honours Moral Philosophy and Political Economy.

His time at the University was marked with success. He won several prizes during his studies, for his Ordinary Logic and Metaphysics class in 1913, and a further prize and first-class certificate for Moral Philosophy in the same year. In 1914, his final year at the University John won a class prize for his studies in Political Economy, and the Alexander Memorial Prize, for which he was awarded ten pounds towards books.

In 1914 John joined the University’s Officer Training Corps and was enlisted in the Army Services Corp and travelled to France, attached to the Australian Supply Column.

On the 21 October 1917 whilst working voluntarily to help move the wounded from an Advanced Dressing station, John Loudon Stevens was killed by shell fire.

He is buried at the Ypres Reservoir Cemetery in Belgium, and also commemorated on Kilmarnock Academy’s war memorial, alongside 142 other pupils and masters who gave their lives in the Great War.