Stoker 1st Class Alexander Lawrie

Stoker 1st Class Alexander Lawrie, Royal Navy. He was lost at sea aboard H.M.S. “Narborough ” on 12th January 1918, aged 23. He had been born in Duns and was the son of George and the late Johanna Simpson Lawrie of Cumledge Mill, Duns and is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. He was lost when H.M.S. “Narborough” and her sister ship H.M.S. “Opal” were wrecked on the Pentland Skerries after running aground during a storm. Only one sailor survived and 188 were lost. Most of the casualties were never found. H.M.S.  ” Narborough” was an “M” Class destroyer  launched at the John Brown shipyard on the Clyde on 2nd March 1916. She weighed in at 1,042 tons with a top speed of 34 knots and carried a crew of 80. Her armament consisted of three 4inch guns and twin torpedo tubes. He had been educated at Milburn Primary School and the Berwickshire High School before going to work as a gardener for Sir Charles Dalrymple at Musselburgh. In 1915 he enlisted in the Royal Navy and was the second one of his family to die on Active Service. His brother Thomas was killed in November 1914 with the Kings Own Scottish Borderers, see above. He is also commemorated on the Memorial Tablet placed in the new Berwickshire High School, Duns.

Scroll to Top