Private John McDougall

Private John McDougall, 15th ( Service ) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. He was killed in action in Belgium, aged 28, on the 25th October 1917 during the Battle of Third Ypres. He had been born in Cornhill-on-Tweed and was the eldest son of Joshua and Ann McDougall of South Charlton, Alnwick. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Flanders, Belgium. Before enlisting he had been employed as a shepherd. He had originally enlisted in the Tyneside Scottish in February 1916 and the photo shows him in this uniform. After training he went to France and was almost immediately transferred to the 13th D.L.I. He was invalided home in January 1917 suffering from trench fever and upon recovery he returned to the front in June 1917 and was posted to the 15th D.L.I. His father received his back pay of £35 and his War Gratuity of £7. The photos show the atrocious state of the Battlefield where the incessant shelling had destroyed the fragile Flanders drainage system.