Sergeant Thomas Blaikie

Sergeant Thomas Blaikie 3rd ( Reserve ) Battalion, Cameron Highlanders. He was drowned on Service in the sea near Troon in Ayrshire on 25th February 1917 aged 43. He had been born in Selkirk and was the son of the late James and Jane Blaikie and was the husband of Flora Blaikie whom he had married in 1916, and he is buried in Shewalton Cemetery, Irvine, Ayrshire. In 1897 he had enlisted as a Regular Soldier in the Cameron Highlanders and had served 13 years in Egypt, the Sudan, Malta , India and South Africa before being discharged in 1911. He was then employed as a wool spinner in Selkirk before re-enlisting and going to France with the 5th Battalion. When he was drowned he had been serving at the 10th Officer Cadet School at Gailes, Ayrshire.