Marion MacDonald

[Michelle79]

Hi Everyone,

In the course of my genealogical quest to try and locate living relatives of the Scottish HCB soldiers who died at Fromelles I came across a great story about the sister of one of the boys told to me by her daughter. Marion MacDonald (born 1894) was the elder sister or Arthur James MacDonald (born 1895) who died at Fromelles but she was also involved in the war herself. She was sent to France to do clerical work and someone was needed to deliver reports so she was handed a small two-stroke motorbike and told off you go! I assume this made her into some kind of a message runner. She ended up working for the Canadians but her daughter doesn't know how she got seconded to them. Her sister Jane was also involved in the war effort and met her husband on a troop ship in Malta - I think her involvement would have been a bit more conventional, however, as she was a nurse. To top that off their brother Joseph and his wife, in later life, were on The Athenia the day WWII began; The Athenia was torpedoed by the Germans and became the first ship to be sunk during the second world war (Joseph and his wife survived though.)

After the war Marion and her sister Annie got themselves motorbikes - the like of these two tooting around traditional rural Banffshire on motorbikes had never been seen before and consequently they were nicknamed "The Notorious Miss MacDonalds" by the locals! They were definitely ahead of their times these girls.

Marion's daughter still has her WWI suitcase and has always thought she should hand it into a WWI museum; I was just wondering if a museum would be interested in this and, if so, which would be the best one for her to donate it to? Also if anyone knows of Miss MacDonald and her war experiences please let me know.

Regards

Michelle

[alf mcm]

Michelle,

Marion Macdonald's service records, for the W.A.A.C. are available online at the National Archives website {assuming that she is the Marion Macdonald who was born in Ballindalloch, Banffshire on 5th January, 1894}.There are about 44 pages, and will only cost you £3.50! A bargain! These will tell you a lot about her wartime service.

Regards,

Alf McM

[Michelle79]

Marion Macdonald's service records, for the W.A.A.C. are available online at the National Archives website {assuming that she is the Marion Macdonald who was born in Ballindalloch, Banffshire on 5th January, 1894}

Hi Alf,

That is indeed the right Marion MacDonald - she was born 5th Jan 1894 in Glenlivet which is in the Ballindalloch area of Banffshire. I think I will get her service records; I'm not sure if her daughter, who is now in her 80s, will have ever seen those and I'm curious to see them myself after having done so much research into the family! Thanks.

Regards

Michelle