Private James Cockburn

Private James Cockburn, “D” Coy. 1st Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He died from wounds in Flanders on 12th January 1918, aged 38. He had been born in Swinton and was the son of William and Jane Cockburn, The Green, West Side, Swinton and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium.   He was born in Swinton but had enlisted in Pathhead, Midlothian. As a lad he had made his living as a rabbit catcher before moving to Midlothian to work as a gamekeeper where he was a keen rifle club member. In 1916 he was wounded during the capture of High Wood on the Somme and suffered from no less than 58 shrapnel wounds being treated in Stirling Royal Infirmary before eventually rejoining his Battalion. His Headstone is inscribed “Thy Will Be Done”.