Private James Hay

Private James Hunter Hay, 1st Battalion ( The London Scottish ) Gordon Highlanders. He was killed in action in Sicily, aged 35, on the 18th July 1943. He had been born in Cockburnspath and was the son of George and the late Catherine Hay of Cockburnspath. and the husband of Rothes Sylvia Hay of West Croydon. He had qualified as a chemist at the Royal Dispensary in Edinburgh in 1929 and was a member of the Pharmaceutical Society. He set up in business in West Croydon in 1934. He was a member of the National Fire Service before he joined the London Scottish in 1942 landing in Sicily in early July only to be killed 2 weeks later. He is buried in Catania War Cemetery, Sicily, Italy where his Headstone is inscribed ” At the Going Down Of the Sun And In The Morning We Will Remember Him”. The photos show British troops in Sicily.