Private William Cockburn

Private William John Cockburn 16th Battalion, ( Canadian Scottish ), Canadian Infantry. He was killed in action in Belgium, aged 32, on 16th August 1917 during the Battle of Third Ypres. He was the son of Thomas and Margaret Cockburn and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, Vimy, France. ( This Memorial is the Canadian National Memorial for the missing of the Great War ). He had been born in Melrose in 1885 and was the son of the late Margaret Cockburn and Thomas Cockburn of Clarilaw, Bowden. He had emigrated to Canada and was farming in Manitoba when he enlisted in Winnipeg. At the time he was ca member of the local militia the 79th Cameron Highlanders of Canada. He joined his Battalion in France in April 1917 and had named his sister Elizabeth of Clarilaw, Bowden in his Will. The photos show troops during the early stages of the Battle.

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