Soldier Record

My grandfather Private James Wood volunteered for the 1st World War, and was enlisted in the Scottish Horse Regiment on the 28 May 1915 and in Gallipoli was assigned to the 1/2 Scottish Horse. In Egypt 1/2 Scottish was incorporated into the 13 (Scottish Horse) Btn, The Black Watch at Abassia in the Canal Zone. He was trained at Dunkeld in Scotland. We have the records and his horse cost my great grandmother the princely sum of £5.00. James was 23 years old and served in Gallipoli, Macedonia and France.

He was one of the fortunates who came home in 1919. My grandmother told me that he was very proud to have served his country in the Great War, but with much wisdom and hindsight, he never glorified war and never talked about what he saw and never, never spoke in a derogatory way about the men he fought (the enemy). James would never be the same, he left a vibrant healthy, young man and came back wracked with malaria and all the other associated diseases from the countries he served in. Since then I have found out about the horrors that he faced, and it is no wonder that he could never bring himself to talk about it.

My grandmother also told me that when they got married, my grandfather had never met her family, but when he was in Egypt he was talking to this soldier from another regiment and it turned out to be my grandmother's brother.

I am sorry that I was too young to really get to know him, and I dedicate this to his memory and to all of the brave soldiers who fought in the 1914/18 war. We certainly should never, never forget what they sacrificed.