250767 Private
11th Battalion Royal Scots, 27th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division
Age: 31
Date of Death: 18.8.18
Buried: (Royal) Berkshire Corner Cemetery Extension Panel 1
Family history: He lived with his sister Lizzie and her husband William and their two children May and William, at Magdalene Place, Grangepans, Bo’ness. Prior to enlisting on 2 December 1914, he was employed as a miner at Grange Colliery.
He enlisted in the 5th Battalion Royal Scots and saw action at Gallipoli being wounded twice. The second wound, a shrapnel wound to the right thigh, saw him sent back to the Deaconess Hospital in Edinburgh where he spent eight months. On recovering, he was posted to the 17th Battalion on 9 February 1917, and was wounded again this time being gassed and receiving a shell splinter wound. He was once again hospitalised, this time for seven months. Recovering from his wounds he was posted to the 4th Battalion on 11 February 1918 and then transferred to the 11th Battalion.
The action leading to his death
This action took place well outside the confines of the Ypres Salient. However, the missing are commemorated on the (Royal) Berkshire Corner Cemetery Extension.
The Battalion was preparing for the assault on Hoegenacker Ridge, located south west of Meteren., on 18 August. They moved up to their assembly positions and this was complete by 1am and the trench camouflaged by the Royal Engineers. The Battalion stayed in the assembly positions until zero hour at 11am at which point ‘B’ & ‘C’ Companies advanced with ‘D’ in support and ‘A’ in reserve. The Germans were completely taken by surprise and offered little resistance and the Battalion consolidated their positions. The War Diary reported that Battalion casualties were light.
(Linesman Map. Modern map showing location of the ground)
Medals
1915 Star, The British War Medal, Victory Medal
