Moir, George and Gordon
George Walker Moir was 23 when he died during a phase of the Battle of The Somme. He was a Lance-Corporal with the 5th Battalion of the Scottish Rifles (known as the Cameronians). Having been spared the horrors of the first day of the battle on 1st July, the 33rd Division was transferred to the…
Read MoreAitken, Kenneth
Kenneth Aitken was born on 6th March 1905 (at 8.30am) at 21 Falkland Mansions (now Falkland Street) in Hyndland. He was the second son of Hugh Wallace Aitken and of Jessie Eva Aitken (nee Robertson) and had three brothers: Wallace (born 1904), Malcolm (born 26 September 1907 was Captain in the HLI), and Douglas (born…
Read MoreNeilson, Gilbert
I am indebted to the dolvolturnocassino.it website as a source of information Commando units recruited from among men already in the army but who showed the physical ability and the initiative to undertake ‘special forces’ work raiding behind enemy lines. Number 9 Commando recruited mainly from Scottish regiments, including Gilbert Reid Neilson, who was in…
Read MorePollock, Walter
Walter Wallace Pollock was born on 24th September 1918 at Hillcrest, Cairns Drive, Milngavie. His father, Walter Craig Pollock, was a colliery salesman and had married Catherine Russell Wallace in 1910. From the 1940 Valuation Roll, Hillcrest is 8 Cairns Drive: By the time of the 1921 Census, the family were in Bearsden, at a…
Read MoreMunro Brothers – Thomas, William and Robert
On Sunday 2nd April 1911, the decennial UK Census recorded the Munros at their home in a flat at 23 Douglas Place (now renumbered as 3, 5, 7 and 9 Douglas Place): Here is the Census record: Parents Robert and Mary, and six of their children, lived in three rooms; the absentee was their second…
Read MoreHulley, George
Painting called “The Battlefield at Night” by FJ Mears (1890-1929) George Alan William Hulley (known as Alan) was a private in the 6th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) serving in Belgium in 1917. On 11th October the battalion was moving up from reserve into the front line, as recorded in the war diary: On the…
Read MoreGordon, Michael
Michael Gordon (no middle name at this stage, possibly a mistake by the registrar?) was born on 7th March 1883 at 37 College Street, Dumbarton. His father, also Michael, was a grocer. His mother, Maria (Mary), was of Irish descent – her maiden name is uncertain but most likely Heraghty. Michael was the 3rd of their…
Read MoreDeans, Robert
WARNING: THIS POST IS A GENEALOGY DETECTIVE STORY, TRYING TO SOLVE ONE MYSTERY AFTER ANOTHER. YOU ARE VERY WELCOME TO READ, BUT OTHER PROFILES ON THIS WEBSITE MIGHT BE LIGHTER READING. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes Private Robert Deans of the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, was 28 years of age when he was…
Read MoreGibson, James
James Douglas Gibson was born on 26th August 1889 in China. On the war memorial he is called J Douglas Gibson, suggesting he might have been known as Douglas, but in the absence of definite information I have stuck to James. His father was a missionary in Swatow, now Shantou; his name was James Campbell…
Read MoreNiven brothers – Donald and James
John Niven was a wholesale grocer, who married Elizabeth Adam McLean in 1885 in Helensburgh: he was 35, Elizabeth was 20. They began married life at 90 Great Western Road, Glasgow: Today it looks like this: John’s business address according to the Post Office Directory of that year was 55 East Howard Street, seen on…
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