Sergeant Alexander MacNab

Sergeant Alexander MacNab, ” G ” Coy., 1st/7th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers. He was killed in action in France on 15th September 1916, aged 22, during the Battle of the Somme. He was the son of James and Ann MacNab of Station House, Beal and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He fell in the attack on the German positions at ” Sunken Trench ” which in the face of very strong opposition was only partially successful and very heavy casualties were incurred. 3 Officers and 114 Other Ranks were killed and 7 Officers and 219 Other Ranks were wounded. The photographs show troops on the Somme. After the rains of autumn this ground turned into a glutinous quagmire. The last photo shows the impressive Memorial raised to commemorate the fallen of the 50th ( Northumbrian ) Division of which the Battalion was part until February 1918 when it was transferred to the 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Division as the Pioneer Battalion.  It was erected near the village of Weiltje in the Ypres Salient where nearby the Division had fought its first action of the War on 26th April 1915 only days after landing on the Continent.