Wisharts Who Served

Lance Corporal William Wishart

On 1 December 1915 William enlisted at 261 West Princes Street in Glasgow with the 3rd/5th Battalion Scottish Rifles (Cameronians) which had been formed as a depot training unit in November 1914 and were stationed in Yorkshire at the time. On enlistment Private William Wishart (297) was recorded as being 5ft 7in and weighing 123 lbs, fit for duty and was immediately embodied for service and sent south by train to Ripon. The 3rd/5th battalion became the 5th Reserve Battalion on 8 April 1916, and was garrisoned four days later at Catterick.

By early summer 1916, William was transferred to the 4th (Reserve) Battalion Royal Scots and left Southampton for Le Havre on 3 June (arriving on 4 June) then proceeding to number 5 Infantry Base Depot in Rouen. A month later on 10 July Private William Wishart (43760) was one of 298 men drafted to the 16th Battalion Royal Scots and arrived at the Front in Hennecourt Wood a day later on 11 July.

By the end of July the battalion was in the front line trenches to the left of High Wood and it is possible William saw his first action of the war in the early hours of 4 August when the battalion unsuccessfully attacked German front lines. They were subsequently relieved by the 15th Royal Scots and proceeded to battalion HQ in Mametz Wood. Much of August was spent on rotation between the front line and the rear and by early September they were in the line at La Rolanderie which on 6 September was described as having ‘little activity in this part of the line’. On 12 September they were again relieved by the 15th Royal Scots and returned to billets at Fort Rompu and then Erquinghem. A night raid was made on German trenches at Bois Grenier in the small hours of 17/18 September, however the battalion (which came under heavy machine gun fire) was not able to proceed past the German wire and was forced to retreat.

Much of the remainder of 1916 was spent between the front line trenches and billets where the men were assigned to working parties. Several raids and patrols occurred, however evidence that William was involved with any of these cannot be substantiated.

New Year 1917 saw the Royal Scots back in the trenches on 11 January, enemy artillery and trench mortars rained down on the front line periodically for the next three days, although only a few casualties were sustained.

On 19 January William was appointed Lance Corporal (unpaid) whilst billeted at St Hilaire Dieval. By early February the battalion was at Meteren and then Berthen by 5 February. A month later, whilst billeted at Chelers, the 16th Royal Scots were inspected by Field Marshall Haig, who commented on the smart appearance a good marching of the battalion. All companies were out on working parties throughout much of March but were back in the trenches North East of Arras on 20 March for several days before returning to billets in Arras, St Nicholas and St Catherine.

The Arras offensive began on the morning of 9 April. William was almost certainly involved and had become a ‘paid’ Lance Corporal the same day. The battalion suffered 318 casualties by the day’s end, a situation that was more or less replicated for the remainder of the month.

The quietness during the early hours of 28 April were broken at dawn by an artillery barrage, and at 4:25am all companies of the 16th battalion left the trenches and moved forward towards the enemy lines under machine gun and rifle fire from the Roeux agricultural Chemical Works, Wood and Roeux itself (a small village beside the Arras–Douai railway line). The battalion reached the German positions and considerable hand-to-hand combat was recorded as having occurred at the chemical works whilst other men established themselves in shell holes and about the works buildings. Another group of troops moved forward behind a barrage into Roeux itself and were also engaged in hand-to-hand fighting with the enemy. Troops who had entered the Wood were compelled to withdraw for fear of being cut-off, however those who were in the village were not so fortunate and found themselves separated as the Germans counter-attacked through the Wood towards the allied lines. By the day’s end, 170 men from the battalion were recorded as ‘missing’. William was one of those and as his fate became apparent several months later, it seems likely that he was amongst the men who remained behind in the village and taken prisoner. In total the battalion suffered just over 50% casualties during the attack.

The Scotsman first listed William as ‘Missing in Action’ on 14 June 1917, whilst the German Red Cross eventually supplied a list dated 18 July that William had died on 2 May at Kriegs Laz Gef Lag, St Clotilde, Douai. It seems likely that William had been admitted to a war prisoner military hospital, possibly suffering from wounds received on 28 April, and died as a result. The Scotsman eventually reported as such several months later on 25 October, although it had already been accepted by the military that he had died in a document dated 24 August.

What remained of William’s possessions had been organized to be sent back to his wife at the start of November whilst she was then living at 8 Machieson Road in Glasgow, and on 31 December she was awarded a war widow's pension of 22/11 a week for herself and two sons.

William was awarded the British War and Victory medals and is buried in Joint Grave H.14. at Douai Communal Cemetery.

Sapper James Wishart

James Wishart was born about 1880 in West Calder, Midlothian. He was the son of Janie Wishart (his father is unknown) and had three siblings – Thomas, David and a sister Christine.

On 1 June 1911 James married Elizabeth Brown by declaration in Glasgow and was working as a Bricklayer in Denbeath when he enlisted at Methil on 29 March 1915. No. 89126 Sapper James Wishart of the 16th Corps Royal Engineers was given the role of Skilled Bricklayer and assigned to the 137th Corps Royal Engineers a week later on 7 April. Less than four months after enlisting, James embarked for France on 24 July and was eventually transferred to Salonika in the Balkans. During the summer of 1916 he caught malaria and was sent to 21 Stationary Hospital at Karaissi before being transported to the hospital ship Carisbrooke Castle on 11 August. From there he was sent to Malta and then Mudros where he boarded HMHS Britannic (sister ship to the Titanic) for Southampton.

James arrived back on British soil on 11 October and was admitted to hospital in Aberdeen (subsequently the Scottish General Hospital in on 18 December), after which he was discharged to Royal Engineers No. 2 Depot Company in Newark on 2 February 1917. The day after arriving in Newark James went absent without leave for almost five days and forfeited six days pay as punishment. On 7 June he overstayed his pass for over nine hours and was deprived of a further two days pay. Between 7 and 8 August 1917 James went absent without leave again and was put under close arrest between 9 and 23 August when he was tried and sentenced to 56 days detention at Derby Detention Barracks. The details of the case were:

1. Charges brought forward: When on Active Service deserting his Majesty’s Service in that he at Newark on 7th July, 1917 absented himself from No. 2 D/C of RE Newark until apprehended by the Civil Police at Denbeath on August 8th, 1917. 2. Losing by neglect his clothing and regimental necessaries in that he at Newark on 12.8.17 was deficient of one pair of drawers (woollen).

James was released from detention on 10 October, returning to duty 18 October and on arrival back in France on 15 January 1918, sent to the 237th Field Company Royal Engineers (part of the 41st Division). Several days after the German Spring Offensive began on 21 March, the 237th Field Company was involved in the First Battle of Bapaume and James was reported as missing on 25 March.

On receiving notification a month later, Elizabeth wrote to the War Office on 8 May asking if any further information had been received, in the hope that he had been found in a hospital. A week later she received a reply stating that the situation had not changed and that she would be informed should there be any further news. The uncertainty was prolonged until the following year when on 23 January 1919 James was recorded as officially considered as having died on 25 March. He was buried in the Adanac Military Cemetery in Miraumont, Somme (Grave no II.I 5.)

Private John Wishart

Private No. 1496 John Wishart had spent the best part of a month cooped up aboard troopships when he disembarked in the heat of a Mediterranean summer at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsular. He had enlisted with the 6th Battalion Royal Scots in Edinburgh and had been attached to the 1st/4th Battalion (who were part of the 52nd (Lowland) Division) before leaving for overseas service.

The conditions on board must have been uncomfortable at the very least, and so it would have been with a sense of relief and trepidation that the battalion finally left the confines of the ship.

John was born in the early evening of 25 November 1896 at 32 Bothwell Street in Edinburgh. He was the son of John Wishart, a Postman from Cults in Fife, and Margaret Heron McKenna.

When John was four he was living with his mother and two younger sisters at 5 Beaumont Place in the Newington District of Edinburgh. It’s unclear as to where his father was at the time, and again ten years later when the family resided at 93 Morrison Street in Edinburgh, he was presumably living elsewhere.

It is currently unknown when John enlisted with the 6th Royal Scots. During the early part of the war they had been assigned to Scottish Coastal Defences, and at some point he had been attached to the 1st/4th Battalion (Queen’s Edinburgh Rifles), who had assembled at Larbert, Stirlingshire in May 1915 and entrained for Liverpool on 22 May, where they boarded the RMS Empress of Britain and set sail for the Dardanelles.

By 28 May the ship had reached Gibraltar, and three days later, Malta. By 3 June the Royal Scots had arrived at Alexandria where they were given five days rest in Abukir before embarking again on 8 June, landing on the morning of 11 June at Mudros Bay on the Island of Lemnos. By mid-June the battalion was at Cape Helles and engaged in digging communication trenches as a means to acclimatize the men to the hostile environment and ‘tone up their flabby muscles’.

Orders were received on 19 June to proceed to Gully Ravine where in the early hours of 28 June the Royal Scots assembled in front line trenches waiting to commence an assault on Turkish lines at Fir Tree Spur. As the morning wore on, and the heat intensified, John and his comrades must have been suffering considerably in their serge uniforms, and at 10:45 am, dressed in full marching kit, they went over the top.

John had been appointed the role of signaller, the circumstances of his death are unknown though it is possible that he was amongst those who were later described as ‘falling in bundles’ before the enemy machine guns. By the day's end a witness recounted that ‘a blood red sun had fallen over the peninsular where the scrub was burning fiercely. A bloody sunset closing a day of bloodiness’.

John’s body was never recovered; on 9 August The Scotsman recorded him as ‘Missing’, subsequently reporting his death over one year later on 26 August 1916. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial in Turkey.

Private Magnus Wishart

Magnus Wishart was born in on 17 November 1896. He was the son of James Fraser Wishart, a Warehouseman from Northmavine, and Christine Clark. In 1901 Magnus was living with his parents and two siblings at 265 Gala Park Road in Galashiels. Ten years later the family had left Scotland and were living in at 47 Fairmont Road. Magnus’ father was working as a Fish Curer whilst Magnus, aged 14, was employed as an Errand Boy in a local grocery.

By 1914 Magnus was employed as a Fish House Worker and enlisted with the Grimsby Battalion Regiment (The Grimsby Chums) in Grimsby on 28 October. The battalion had been formed on 9 September by the town council as a territorial battalion and were subsequently known as the 10th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment when they became part of the .

Magnus was recorded as being just over five foot seven in height and weighing 122 lbs. He had a fresh complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. Private Magnus Wishart (1056) saw home service between 28 October 1914 and 15 April 1916 after which he was sent to France with the BEF. A month after arriving he was transferred to the 8th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment (‘C’ company) who at the time were based in the trenches at Meaulte. On 23 April they were relieved by the 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment and sent to billets at La Neuville for training. On 1 July, the first day of the , the battalion attacked at Fricourt as part of the 63rd Brigade. Suffering heavy losses, the Lincolns remained on the front line until 4 July when they were relieved and entrained at Dernancourt for Ailly-sur-Somme, before marching to Vaux-en-Amienois for three day’s rest.

By April 1917 the battalion were based in the Arras area where they saw action between 23 and 29 April, suffering casualties of 8 officers and 516 other ranks. During this period Magnus’ parents became worried about him, having not heard any news or received correspondence. His mother subsequently wrote to the Infantry Record Office in Lichfield in June 1917:

Dear Sir,

Would you kindly give me any information about my son Private Magnus Wishart no. 1056 8th Lincolnshire Regt. We have received no letters or news from him for 6 weeks and we are getting a little anxious about him. Please would you send word as soon as possible.

Yours truly, Mrs Wishart

Magnus’ battalion had been moving about quite a bit and it is possible that he had not had the opportunity to write, or that his letters had been lost in transit. The battalion was involved in the attack on Rifle Farm on 31 July, and in early August, when the battalion was stationed at Chinese Wall, Magnus returned to the UK and was posted to the Command Depot in Lichfield on the 12 August. A month later on 22 September he was given ten days furlough, returning to Grimsby for the first time in well over a year.

It appears that Magnus was then assigned to a territorial battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment from 3 October (possibly the 3rd Battalion, a training unit based in Grimsby) before being sent to No. 18 Company of the RAMC as Private No. 136005 in January 1918. He was stationed in London at some point over the next year and was eventually discharged from service on 25 April 1919.

After the war Magnus married Elsie Dawson on 7 June 1920 in Grimsby and they had three daughters and one son by the marriage (Queenie, John Ramsay, Pamela & June Wishart).

In 1936 he was living at 59 First Avenue in Grimsby and died in the town during 1972.

During the war both of Magnus’ brothers also served in the forces: Gilbert, with the Royal Field Artillery and Robert, with the 51st Royal Sussex Regiment.

Second Lieutenant Wishart

The 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders had been relieved in the line by the 7th/9th Kings Own Scottish Borderers when Second Lieutenant William Muir Wishart joined the battalion. On the evening of 19 March 1917 they had marched from Arras and taken up billets a short distance away in Duisans. Within a month the Seaforths would be engaged in the Arras Offensive and the boundaries between hell and earth must have seemed blurred beyond all recognition. The Second Lieutenant’s war would soon be over – but at cost. Months of painful recuperation lay ahead and the scars of 23 April must have been deeply etched for years to come.

William Muir Wishart was born at 3 Mulberry Place in Edinburgh on 22 May 1885. He was the youngest son of Richard Wishart, a Boot and Shoe Maker from Aberdour, and Jessie McGregor Roger. When William was five years old he lived with his parents and four siblings at 2 Craigrossie Place in Edinburgh and by 1901 the family had moved to 4 Kinghorn Place.

He was educated at the prestigious George Heriot’s School – an association that would serve him favourably several years later when applying for the Officer Training Corps. On 15 September 1907 William’s father died and by 1908 the family were living at 38 Gosford Place. Three years later in 1911 William’s time was divided between working as an Insurance Clerk and as a part time student. He had been attending Edinburgh University, and on 26 November 1915 whilst he was employed as an actuarial clerk, William visited the recruiting office on Frederick Street and enlisted under the Derby Scheme with the 9th Battalion Royal Scots.

Private 6576 William Muir Wishart was described as being 5 feet 5½ inches in height, weighed 10 stone 3lbs and with good physical development and was sent to the army reserve on 1 December.

Six months later on 14 June 1916 William joined the Edinburgh University Officers' Training Corps, serving as a Cadet Private. A formal application to join an Officer Cadet Unit was made later that summer on 30 August. In the application forms William’s moral character was certified by James M. Scott, the minister of Junction Road Church in Leith, whilst his educational suitability was certified by Charles McDonald, Organiser of Continuation Classes and Educational Advisor to the Leith School Board. His record of service from the infantry unit of the University contingent of the OTC indicated that William’s general efficiency was good, he had qualified at minimum range in musketry (exercised open range) and had gained the required signalling knowledge. The application was duly accepted and William was sent to join the No.8 Officer Cadet Battalion at Lichfield on 5 October.

On 24 January 1917, William’s commission came through, and he was appointed the rank of Second Lieutenant in the 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. The position was gazetted a month later on 26 February, and overseas service followed shortly afterwards when William joined his battalion in France on 19 March 1917.

One week after William’s arrival, following an inspection by the Commanding Officer in their huts, the battalion marched to Arras during the early evening of 26 March in order to relieve the 8th/10th Gordon Highlanders. Working parties were quickly established and in the night of 31 March the battalion was employed in bringing Gas Projectors up to the trenches.

Bombardment of the German positions began on 4 April and lasted four days. On 9 April the Seaforths moved into battle positions and carrying parties were formed, with C and half of A company left in reserve. It is not known what role William played on this particular day, however by the end, the battalion was established in several positions along the line and had suffered 47 casualties amongst the ranks.

Two days later, on 11 April, the Seaforths were on the move again and were ordered to move forward in support of 45th and 46th Brigades who were attacking at Feuchy at 5am. The following day they were relieved by the East Yorkshire Regiment of the 17th Division and marched back to Arras where they were billeted in a school on Rue Pasteur. On 16 April William and his fellow officers attended a lecture by the Commanding Officer on tactics and the battalion relocated the next day to new billets on the Grande Place before marching forward on 21 April and relieving the 8th/10th Gordon Highlanders in the front system near Wancourt. The day before the ‘big attack’ was punctuated by intermittent enemy shell-fire, effecting casualties of one officer and ten other ranks.

A cold night preceded zero hour, which was set at 4:45 in the morning of 23 April. The Seaforths had moved into their "jumping off positions" shortly after 2am and prepared for a general advance on Guemappe Village. William had been assigned officer in charge of the Stokes gun and was positioned in the centre behind the last line of the reserve platoon (the ‘moppers up’ formed from “D” Coy.)

In the fledgling hours of daylight one can only imagine the scenes William and his comrades must have witnessed. The battalion suffered heavy losses from the outset and were described as being quite literally ‘mown down’ by the enemy. An Argyll and Sutherland Highlander writing an account of the attack in his diary referred to 23 April as ‘Black Monday’ and makes reference to the Seaforths as suffering ‘tremendous casualties’.

In 1919 William wrote:

I was wounded at Guemappe Village (France) in an attack on 23 April 1917 while officer in charge of a Stokes Mortar Battery and was admitted to hospital on that day suffering from wounds in Right Upper Arm and Left Thigh and Knee, and contused back (very severe) – a brick wall having been blown down on top of me, the result of a shell explosion.

It is not clear exactly when William received his injuries, however the battalion diary recorded that the Stokes gun failed to come into action and as soon as the team reached the line East of Guemappe Village all became casualties with the exception of a Sergeant and one other man. According to the battalion diaries this was around mid-morning and during a period of intense enemy shell and machine gun fire.

Further details concerning William’s injuries were recorded in a subsequent medical report stating that on the day in question William received gunshot wounds in his right arm and left leg causing him to collapse to the ground during which time, unable to move, a shell exploded nearby causing a brick wall to collapse on top of him.

William was taken from the field, and four days later had been moved from an unspecified French hospital to Boulogne where he embarked for Dover aboard the St Denis. On arrival he was then sent to the Royal Free Hospital in London before being transferred to the Seafield War Hospital in Leith, where he was admitted on 2 June. On arrival the wounds in his arm and leg had healed however his back was still tender and William was not able to walk very far, or ascend stairs without suffering considerable pain.

A medical board convened on 3 August made the decision that William required further treatment in an Officer’s Hospital and on 19 September the transfer was confirmed at another meeting, although it would be another two months before he was finally boarded out of Seafield on 21 November, and granted three weeks leave (after which he was ordered to report to the 3rd Reserve Battalion Seaforth Highlanders at Cromarty). However, William soon found himself back in Seafield Hospital on 10 December and received further treatment to his spine. He remained at Seafield until the following spring when in late March or April 1918 he was transferred to Craiglockhart War Hospital.

On 24 May 1918, and over a year after being wounded, William was finally discharged from hospital and given light work with the Ministry of National Service as a statistical officer based at the Royal (Dick) College in Edinburgh. At the time he was living back at 38 Gosford Place and instructions were renewed to continue working in this capacity on 24 August. By 18 December the Ministry decided that William was surplus to their requirements and as a result he was required to relinquish his commission with effect from 1 January 1919.

Fifteen years after the war ended William married Elizabeth Masterton Richards on 31 August 1933 in Leith, and one year later their only child, a daughter, was born in Renfrewshire.

William died aged 89 on 27 August 1974 in Edinburgh.

Sergeant James Wishart

James Wishart was born on 26 June 1890 at Boreland Farm in Dysart, Fife. He was the son of Peter Wishart, a Farm Servant from Cults and Elizabeth Lumsden. One year after James’ birth the family were living at Wellsgreen Farm in Wemyss and ten years later at Duddingston Farm in the parish of Abercorn, West Lothian. When the war started the Wishart family were living on Salisbury Street in Edinburgh. James had been serving with the Edinburgh City Police.

He enlisted with the 9th Battalion Gordon Highlanders in Edinburgh (as Corporal) and entered the war in France & Flanders on 9 July 1915. Between 1915 and 1917 James was promoted to Sergeant and died of wounds on the 29 June 1917 having been hit by shrapnel from a shell whilst attending to wounded men on the battlefield. He is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinghe, West-Vlaandeen, Belgium. (Grave XIV.C.6).

Captain Robert Scott Wishart

Robert Scott Wishart was born shortly after midnight on 6 June 1889 at 84 Alexandra Street in Kirkcaldy, Fife. He was the third son of Matthew Wishart, a Builder from Abernethy, and Jessie Grieve Garrick.

At the start of the new century Robert continued to live on Alexandra Street and attended Kirkcaldy High School, proving himself in athletics, and serving with the Officer Training Corps (junior division) between 1902 and 1907, where he eventually gained the rank of Sergeant.

After High School he attended Edinburgh University where he achieved MA (Hons) and BSc (Distinctions) in Maths (1912). In 1911 Robert was recorded in the census as camping with his fellow students at the cemetery gate in Alva, Clackmannanshire.

During his time at University Robert continued his involvement with the Officer Training Corps (Senior) and served as a gunner in the artillery unit between February 1910 and November 1912 when he resigned to concentrate on his studies.

On 20 August 1914, shortly after war was declared, Robert made an application for a commission in the . He was assigned the rank of Second Lieutenant and recorded as being a student of chemistry residing at ‘Dunearn’, 19 Townsend Crescent, Kirkcaldy. Robert’s ‘good moral character’ was certified by a clergyman named R. B. Wiseman, and he was posted to the 2nd Highland Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery (Territorial) on 3 October.

Robert was promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant in February 1915 and Captain in the autumn. On 15 September, Robert married Margaret Gordon Aitchison, a Schoolteacher, born in Pietermaritzburg (South Africa), at the United Free Church in Warrander Park in Edinburgh.

Later that year the Fifeshire Advertiser of 4 December, 1915 reported that:

Captain Wishart, has been on coast defence duty since the outbreak of war. In September last he married Miss Margaret G Aitchison, MA, Edinburgh. He was gazetted Captain in October. His eldest brother, Lieutenant Dr David Wishart, is now with the British Army that landed at Salonica. Second Lieutenant W G Wishart, formerly lecturer on engineering in the University of Birmingham, is now in India. The youngest brother, Dr James M Wishart, is in France.

On 6 September 1916, around the time he became father to his first child, a daughter named Margaret Jessie Garrick Wishart, Robert was sent with the BEF to France. The 2nd Highland Brigade RFA (TF) had been renumbered the 256th Brigade RFA (TF) and served overseas with the 51st Division until the end of the war. With the exception of his promotions, details of Robert’s overseas service history is currently unknown, however he was discharged from the military on 10 April 1919 and resigned his commission on 9 September 1921.

A year later Robert’s second daughter, Jean Scott Wishart, was born in Oldham, Lancashire. After the war he had been working as a research chemist and was published in the Journal of the Chemical Society. By 1929 he had been living at Braeside in Fawley, Southampton and on 13 November Robert underwent an operation for colon cancer in Edinburgh, where he subsequently died the same day at 19 Drumsheugh Gardens. Robert’s funeral was held three days later on 16 November and he was buried in Morningside Cemetery.

Private Alexander Wishart

Alexander Wishart was born in the early hours of 25 March 1888 at 22 Hanover Square in Stranraer. He was the son of William Wishart, a Ropemaker from Kirkcaldy, and Elizabeth Campbell. On his birth certificate he was recorded as ‘Alexander Wishart Campbell’ and it is likely that his mother, whose usual domicile was in Edinburgh, was visiting William, who at the time was resident at the Stranraer Reformatory, possibly teaching the boys rope- making on the old Dalrymple Terrace rope-walk.

It’s unknown how long Alexander lived in Stranraer. His father William was still resident there by the end of 1888 when he was summoned to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to face divorce proceedings brought forth by his first wife Margaret Wishart (née Mitchell). However by 1891 the family were living back in Edinburgh at 48 Potterrow.

No paper evidence exists that Alexander’s parents were ‘regularly’ married, and it seems probable that they considered themselves married by cohabitation and repute.

Alexander’s mother died when he was nine years old, and only a year later his father had re-married to Helen McIntyre, a Book Folder residing in the same vicinity as the Wisharts. By 1901 the family were living not far from Potterrow at 7 West Nicholson Street. Alexander, although at school, had also gained employment as a Butler’s Boy.

According to Alexander’s nephew, William’s wife, Helen, left the family whilst William was in hospital, taking anything of worth the family possessed with her. This story is partially born out in the 1911 census when William and his sons are to be found working on their own accounts as Rope Spinners at 16 Baltic Street in Leith. William records that he is still a married man, yet Helen, who is living elsewhere in Edinburgh, maintains that she is a widow. The exact circumstances and nature of her departure will probably never be known, yet it is clear from a diary written shortly after his death, that William’s sons had a close reverential bond with their father. In 1914, when Alexander was 26, his father died of a stroke and was buried in an unmarked grave in Rosebank cemetery, Leith.

Alexander continued to live with his older brother, William, in Baltic Street until 1916 when, along with his brother and new wife Jessie, he moved to 5 Ferrier Street in Leith.

On the 16 August 1916, nearly two years after the outbreak of war, Alexander enlisted with the 2nd/4th Battalion Cameron Highlanders at the Cockburn Street recruitment office in Edinburgh, and was assigned the rank of Private (5935). He had been working as a Dock Labourer at the time and was mobilized for service on 29 August and posted the next day to Cromarty for training. On 23 December 1916 he was then transferred to the 12th Transport Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, which had been formed that month in Croydon as a training and administration unit that supplied men for work at ports and docks. It seems likely that, based on Alexander’s pre-war occupation, he was employed by the regiment in such places.

During 1917 Alexander was stationed in Weymouth and then Newhaven, regularly finding himself being punished for a catalogue of misdemeanours that often involved being absent from duty without leave, although in July 1917 he forfeited seven days pay for ‘wilfully damaging a fruit tree’. Between 13 and 16 November he overstayed his leave by two days and was apprehended by military police in the late afternoon of 16 November at London Bridge Station and lost two week's pay as a result. Following this particular incident it appears that Alexander became something of a marked man and was regularly punished for an almost weekly string of what were often quite petty offences.

In early 1918 Alexander was transferred to the 3rd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, and on 5 June embarked at Dover for France, arriving in Calais later that day. He was sent to the ‘L’ Infantry Base Depot at Rouen where he was transferred to D Coy of the 7th Battalion Norfolk Regiment and allotted a new number (41662) on 7 June.

At the time the 7th Norfolks were stationed at Arqueves and engaged in training exercises. On 12 June, a week after arriving in France, Alexander was sent to No. 38 Casualty Clearing Station at Fienvillers from the 12th Dressing Station reputedly suffering from influenza. Curiously in a letter to the Record and Pay Office dated 24 July 1924, Alexander states that whilst with the 7th Norfolks during this period, he was gassed and suffered a broken eardrum in his right ear.

As the battalion were not engaged in any offensive operations or based on the front line at the time, it might be possible that Alexander was gassed accidentally and that influenza was given as the reason to cover up the accident. On the day that Alexander was admitted to the dressing station, the battalion war diaries state that ‘all respirators were tested in gas in a bell tent at Arqueves’. It might also be the case that perhaps Alexander was being somewhat liberal with the truth, and more than a little embarrassed to be leaving the war so soon after arriving, although in a document issued by the Ministry of Pensions in April 1919, he is recorded as suffering from aggravated deafness.

Alexander was transported back to Britain aboard HS Panama on 19 June and sent to recover at the Heavy Woollen District War Hospital in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, where he arrived on 2 July. On 22 July he was then posted to the Ampthill Command Depot and onwards to the 3rd Battalion Norfolk Regiment (a training unit) at Felixtowe on 31 August. On 22 October 1918 Alexander was then transferred to the 18th Battalion, Essex Regiment, who were a home service battalion, and remained with them until 21 March 1919 when he was demobilized at Warley.

After the war Alexander married Elizabeth Forsyth Maxwell on 24 December 1920 in South Leith and began his married life living at 42 Jane Street in Leith. On 11 August 1923 Alexander left the UK for Canada aboard SS Coronia in order to work the Canadian harvest and perhaps settle overseas. Whatever his long-term plans he returned a year later aboard SS Marburn which arrived in Glasgow from St John, New Brunswick on 26 April 1924.

Alexander died at 42 Jane Street on 14 January 1942 of a heart attack and was survived by his wife, who died in 1970.

Source: Scott Wishart