Saturday 31 October 2009

1721 Pte John Middlemass, 7th Bn, Royal Scots

1721 Private John Middlemass of the 7th Battalion, Royal Scots died on the 31st October 1915. He was 23 years old and the son of Robert and Jane Middlemass, of 18, Parsons Green Terrace, Edinburgh.

John must have joined the 7th Royal Scots one or two days after Britain went to war with Germany and he arrived overseas (the Balkans) on the 3rd September 1915. He died at the military hospital in Netley, probably as a result of illness or sickness rather than wounds. Soldiers Died in The Great War notes "died" and also records that he was born in Leith and enlisted in Leith (home of the 7th Royal Scots) and living in Edinburgh.

John Middlemass is buried in Netley Military Cemetery which, as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission states, "... is a permanent military cemetery, the property of the Ministry of Defence. The cemetery was at the back of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital and was used during both wars for burials from the hospital. The cemetery contains 636 First World War burials but only 35 from the Second World War. In addition to the Commonwealth graves, there are a number of war graves of other nationalities including 69 German graves dating from the First World War."

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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