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1st/5th Battalion Gordon Highlanders
 

 James and Margaret Gordon
242009 Pte James Gordon


James Gordon was born at Woodend, Forbes near the Aberdeenshire village of Tullynessle, on 7th November 1885, the youngest child of Robert Gordon, master tailor, and his wife Amelia (or Amilia) Barron. Robert Gordon died  in 1895 when James was ten years old. In the 1901 census his widow Amelia is shown as a crofter, living at Woodcorner, Tullynessle.

In adult life James worked as a stone mason, and in 1910 he married Margaret Murray Brebner in Aberdeen.

Possibly because of his age and marital status, James did not join the army until 1916.

He was killed on 5th December 1917 during an enemy artillery barrage as the Gordons were preparing to withdraw from the front line following the battle of Cambrai. Although his death was recorded in the Battalion's War Diary, his grave, if indeed there ever was one, was lost during the subsequent fighting and he is commemorated on the memorial to the missing at Cambrai.

My thanks to Mark Clunes, the great grandson of James and Margaret, for the photograph and information.


Photo of James and Margaret Gordon  possibly taken on their wedding day 12th March 1910.
 

Click here to go to the Casualty List for December 1917



Carolyn Morrisey