Soldier Record

My Mother told me of her Uncle James and that he fought in WW1 with the Black Watch - he was killed and all that was returned was his lice infested kilt.

One name, of many, on the Menin Gate - "Lest we forget"

This set me recently on a quest to find out more about him. I now know that he joined the 9th Battalion, Black Watch (Kitchener Commission) on 25/10/1916 and was killed in action on 31/07/1017 at Passchendaele - the first day of the 3rd Battle of Ypres, (Pilckem Ridge). The action began at 3.50am and the Battalion were relieved at 10.30pm by the 8th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders.

He is remembered with honour on the Menin Gate, Panel 37, in the Black Watch Regimental Museum and in the Scottish National War Memorial.

In 2006 I visited the battlefields around Passchendaele and the Menin Gate in Ypres and managed to find his name engraved, with so many others, on the Memorial. Although I never knew my Great Uncle I found it a very emotional experience both for myself, and for my Mother, - a fitting sense, not of closure but of unity and peace.

Seeing so many names and graves at the Menin Gate and Tyne Cot made me realise the enormity of the war, and these are only a fraction of those involved in the horror of battle, many more returned injured and maimed both physically and mentally.

Thank you James for what you did for us - the "Ultimate Sacrifice"