Piorun Posted 2 July , 2009 Share Posted 2 July , 2009 I have access to the Battalion history of 7th Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and am willing to look-up on request. Antony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hilditch Posted 1 January , 2013 Share Posted 1 January , 2013 Hi Antony, I have been searching for My Great Great Grandfather, and found that he is buried in Guemppe France , Tank Cemetery.. Other than photos that my Gran has i have no history on him. All i have been able to find is Name, Rank and service number. James M MacDonald, Private, service number 200603, D.O.D 28/4/1917. he serviced with A Coy, 7th Bn. Cameron Highlanders I am trying to find his battle history, how he died, and if he was awarded any service medals. My wife and are visiting him in Dec 2013 and want to visit some of the battle fields. Can you help. Thanks Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Watt Posted 1 January , 2013 Share Posted 1 January , 2013 Hi Scott I can help you a wee bit. In February 1917 all members of the Territorial Force were issued with 6 digit service numbers to replace their earlier 1 to 4 digit ones. The block 200000 to 201000 were issued to the 4th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders, the TF battalion of Inverness-shire and Nairnshire. The new numbers were issued to 4th Cameron Highlanders men who were transferred to the depot in Etaples in March 1916 or who were posted missing while serving with the 1st Cameron Highlanders. Clearly the latter is ruled out for your great great grandfather. Luckily, there is a connection between the old number and new one. I have checked my database of the 4th Camerons men and can see that the number 200592 was issued to the old number 3012 and 200609 was given to the old service number 3093. So Pte MacDonald's original service number would have been between 3012 and 3093 (probably close to 3070). This means that he would have enlisted into the 4th Camerons in February 1915, probably in Inverness, and would have served with the 2/4th Cameron Highlanders in Aberfeldy until heading over to France sometime after March 1916 (although probably in early 1917). There he would have been attached to the base in Etaples before being transferred to the 7th Cameron Highlanders. His death entry in the statutory register of war dead (available at ScotlandsPeople) says interestingly that he died between the 23rd and 28th April. During this time the 7th Camerons were attacking during the Second Battle of the Scarpe. The battalion history, available here http://ia600508.us.archive.org/6/items/7thbattcameron00sanduoft/7thbattcameron00sanduoft.pdf as a download will tell you what happened. That battle starts on page 77. The 7th Camerons were pretty badly cut up, losing 7 officers and 369 men out of 13 and 570 who attacked. Hope this helps. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hilditch Posted 1 January , 2013 Share Posted 1 January , 2013 Hi Patrick, Thankyou very much for the info, Im just starting to go through my family History and ive started with James. I wil give the link you privided a read and come back to the forum. I will also down load what ever pics i have as well. Thanks again. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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