Captain James McLaren, 1st/7th ( Territorial ) ) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was killed in action in France on 21st November 1917, aged 22, during the Battle of Cambrai and is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial, Louveral, France. He was the son of Duncan Mclaren of Fairnington, Kelso and had been educated at Edinburgh Academy and was School Captain in 1914. His brother William had died of wounds three days before ( see above ). He was commissioned in October 1914 and had joined his Battalion in May 1915 being promoted Captain in October 1916. Cambrai was the first time Tanks had been used in large numbers to effect a break through of the German lines and he fell whilst leading “B” Company in the attack on the German positions in Fontaine-Notre-Dame. The Battalion was part of the 154th ( Highland ) Brigade in the 51st (Highland) Division and after the War a very impressive Memorial was raised in commemoration of the Division. It was erected in Newfoundland Park on the Somme over looking “Y” Ravine which was taken when the Division stormed and capture the strong German held village of Beaumont Hamel on the 13th November 1916. At the front a plaque in both English and Gaelic reads ” Friends Are Good On the Day Of Battle “.
