The University of Glasgow Story

Isabella Ross

Biography of Isabella Ross

Isabella Ross (nee Clarkson) was born in Carmichael, Lanarkshire on the 27th June 1890, daughter of James, a Grain Merchant, and Isabella Clarkson, of Ladygill House, Roberton, Abington, Lanarkshire. Isabella came to the University of Glasgow in 1909 and graduated MA on the 20th June 1911.

Isabella was a Nurse in the Malayan Medical Auxiliary Service in Singapore in 1942. She is believed to have been on board the SS Kuala with her husband John Black Ross, Manager of the Mercantile Bank, Penang (1937-42), when it was sunk by Japanese bombers off Pom Pong island on the 14th February 1942.

John Ross is recorded as being rescued from the sea and reaching Sumatra, where he was later captured and interned. He survived the war and was repatriated on the Antenor from Singapore, arriving in Liverpool, England on the 27th October 1945. John Ross remarried postwar to Mary and died in Edinburgh on the 29th June 1957.

Isabella also survived this attack and was among survivors who reached Pom Pong island to be later evacuated by the SS Tanjong Pinang (Penang). The SS Tanjong Pinang (Penang) was itself attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine or torpedo boat during the evening of the 17th February 1942. Isabella Ross, based on accounts of the sinking of the SS Tanjong Pinang, was listed among the casualties.

Isabella Ross is commemorated on the war memorial in the village of Carmichael in Lanarkshire (see also the Scottish War Memorials Project) and on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website where she is also commemorated in the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour, located near St. George's Chapel in Westminster Abbey, London.

Summary

Isabella Ross
Born 27 June 1890, Carmichael, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Died 17 February 1942.
University Link: Graduate
GU Degree: MA, 1911; Arts, 1909-11;
Occupation categories: nurses
Father's Details: James Ross; Grain Merchant
War Service: Nurse, Medical Auxiliary Services (Nursing)
Grave / Memorial: Carmichael, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Record last updated: 13th Feb 2013

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