Soldier Record

My Grandpa, Angus, was a carpenter and joiner before the war and was very sporty, being a very keen boxer and cricketer. Although he was eligible to fight in 1914, he put the war on hold and opted to enlister later, volunteering on 3rd May 1915 in 101st Field Compamy RE as a Sapper and was drafted into the 23rd Division. He was later on the battlefield of the Somme and saw action at Contalmaison. Later he fought at Messines 1917 and was promoted to Lce/Cpl. From there he fought at Passchendaele.

In 1918, he was moved to Italy where he fought in Asiago. Mount Grappa, the Montello and finally the Piave. On 27/28th October he was constructing a pontoon bridge over the Piave River to the nearby island of Papadopoli where he received the MM for bravery.

Being a Lce/Cpl, he was required to steer the pontoon boats over the river to the island, but the Austrians had managed to see him and started to open fire. At the same time there was also an air raid overhead. Grandpa was wounded in this onslaught , where he was wounded in the knee. By complete instict he ordered his men (there was about 6 men on the boat at the time) to give him any grenades and he threw them at the enemy and saved his men from getting wounded or drowned.