Biography of Corporal John Macdonald

John MacDonald was born on the 29th November 1892 in Harrapool, Parish of Strath on the Isle of Skye. His father, Christopher MacDonald (1861-1931), a crofter, and his mother, Catherine MacDonald (nee MacDonald)(1870-1945), married in Harrapool on the 15th October 1889. John was the third of nine children.

John came to the University of Glasgow in 1911 to study in the Arts and studied until the outbreak of war. During his time at University he took: Latin, Greek, Moral Philosophy and Celtic.

He enlisted as a Private in the Fourth Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders. In February 1915 Private MacDonald went to France and then fought in the battle of Neuve Chapelle where he died on 10th March 1915, aged 22. He is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, east of the village of Le Touret, in the Pas de Calais region of France.

University Connections

WWI Roll of Honour

• View Corporal John Macdonald's entry in the First World War Roll of Honour

Summary

Corporal John Macdonald
Rank: Corporal
Regiment: 4th Cameron Highlanders
Degree: Student
Awards: N/A
Comments: N/A
Note/Press Clipping: N/A
Photo ID: N/A

Sources

University of Glasgow Registry and Faculty Records.

Memorial Place: Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Debt of Honour Register.

Steel and Tartan: The 4th Cameron Highlanders in the Great War, by Patrick Watt.

MacDonald family tree on Ancestry.com.