Thursday 4 August 2016

In memory of James Duncan & Alexander Robertson

On the second anniversary of the outbreak of WW1, two Portsoy men became casualties of the conflict.

James Duncan, Pte 1467, 6th Bn. Gordon Highlanders fell in action on 4th August 1916 at the age of just eighteen.  James' mother, Mrs Isabella Duncan, lived at 13 Hill Street in Portsoy.  He is commemorated at the iconic Thiepval Memorial near Albert in France.

Alexander Robertson, Captain, 6th Bn. Gordon Highlanders, also lost his life on the same day.  A married man aged 31, he had lived at Dunalistair, Portsoy, with his wife Elsie Geddes.  The couple later settled in Edinburgh.  A headstone is dedicated to his memory at the Serre Road Cemetery No. 2 in Beaumont-Hamel, France.