Private John Purves

Private John Burns Purves, 1st Garrison Battalion, Royal Scots. He was lost at sea, aged 24 on the 20th July 1918 and is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial on the Salonica Front, Bulgaria. He had been born in Cranshaws and was the son of James and the late Agnes Purves of Auchencrow Mains and Heughhead, Reston.  After enlisting in November 1915 he had originally served with the Kings Own Scottish Borderers and had gone to Egypt with the 1st/4th Battalion. There he contracted diphtheria and was evacuated and on recovery was posted to the Royal Scots. At that time his Battalion were in Salonika but on sailing to join them his ship the S.S.” Kosseir” was sunk by the German submarine UB 51 with the loss of 39 passengers and crew.