Canadian Help

[jamiemcginlay]

Can any of our Canadian pals help with this man I found listed on the memorial in St. Andrew's in the Square parish church in Glasgow.

I've checked CWGC and the Canadian Attestation Papers and came up with nothing which seems strange given the name and the fact there is a date of death.

Thanks.

Jim

MURCHIE F R

CANADIANS

LANCE CORPORAL

8TH BATTALION CANADIANS

DIED 25/09/1915

[spoons]

Only one Murchie F in CWGC and he died on the same date!

Name: MURCHIE, FREDERICK LOCKHART

Initials: F L

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: King's Own Scottish Borderers

Unit Text: "C" Coy. 6th Bn.

Age: 35

Date of Death: 25/09/1915

Service No: 12625

Additional information: Son of the late Archibald and Agnes Jack Murchie, of 130, Hospital St., Glasgow.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 53 to 56.

Memorial: LOOS MEMORIAL

Spoons

[jamiemcginlay]

Hello Paul,

Thanks for that. Sorry but I forgot to mention I came across the CWGC entry for F.L. Murchie and posted this on the SWMF here:

http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot...pic3673-15.html

As the date of death and place of birth match this would seem to be our man. However there is a discrepancy in the initial letters and the church memorial is specific that this was a Lance Corporal in the 8th Battalion Canadians, not a private in the K.O.S.B.

I tried using the service number of F.L. Murchie as listed on CWGC to search among the Canadian Attestation Papers but came up blank. I also tried searching for Frederick Lockhat among the Canadian Papers but still no match, which is why I thought I might try asking for further help here.

Regards.

Jim

[ulsterlad2]

Initially I thought that perhaps Murchie was an alias but a quick use of "Geoff's" for that date shows up no 8th Bn men dying that day.

Is Murchie the real name and he enlisted under an alias? And, just to confuse us more, is the date of death wrong?

[spoons]

It's a puzzle alright. I used Geoff's search engine as well and also looked for a service record on Ancestry (none). SNWM was no help in this instance either.

\Spoons

[PPCLI]

There is a report of the death of 'Murchie, Frederick, Glasgow, Private King's Own Scottish Borderers, Killed in action' in the Evening Times, 19th May 1916, page 5. The article includes a photo.

It does look as though there has been some sort of error; either wrong details given, or some sort of transcription error when inscribing. Have you found any man listed on the congregation plaque who did serve with the 8th Canadians? Just wondering if two men's details were mixed up. The CWGC entry states that both parents were dead, which sometimes results in nobody remembering a soldier's specific service details.

Stuart

[Copper6197]

Hello all;

Originally thought I could be of some assistance on this thread, but...

Was able to locate the Nominal Roll of the 8th Canadian Inf. Battalion on line, but there is no F.R. Murchie listed in the roll of officers and men in any Company that shipped overseas in the 1st Canadian Contingent in 1915.

It is unlikely that he was in the 8th Reserve Battalion, the 8th Railway Battalion, or the 8th Engineers, as it is my belief that these units did not reach France until after Murchie's date of death

The 8th Inf. Battalion war diaries put the battalion somewhere in the Messine area as of late August, 1915. The entry for 25 September makes no mention of infantry casualties, but goes on at some length about an RFC pilot making an emergency landing near the trenches.

So this may be an alias.

Anyone else got any more ideas on this mystery man?

George

[jamiemcginlay]

Hello and thanks to all for the response.

I think this one might have to remain a mystery. I have checked out most of the names on the memorial and they appear to be accurate entries, as is usually the case. I suppose mistakes were made and it is possible the details are wrong, but it just seems unlikely to me, espescially as they are so specific.

I have added a close up photograph of the name on the plaque to the SWMF post and you can see it here, at the bottom of the page.

http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic....orum=warmemscot

Thanks again.

Jim

[speake]

I may be doing this all wrong but the search using the service # 12625 turned up a Lt. Harry Uttley Scholfield from BC who joined the 5th Bn on 19 Sept 1914. There is no record of his being killed on CWGC. Maybe this was a man with a past?

[Copper6197]

Hi Sean:

I guess the service number you checked was within the LAC data base. The service number quoted in Spoon's post would be the "UK" service number as opposed to the Canadian one, so not surprised that the names would be completely different.

I checked this soldier in the LAC database under just the surname Murchie. There were over 20 entries, but none with the initials F.R. Again my best guess is an alias.

George

[speake]

I figured something was wrong.

Could some of the names be transposed (dyslexic engravers)?

[Copper6197]

Not surprised, considering the overwhelming numbers of casualties.

As an aside I do have a photo of a soldier's name commemorated on the Menin Gate with both the name he joined under and the name he died under... completely different!

George