James Ross

James was nineteen when he first matriculated at Glasgow University in 1909. His curriculum was a little unusual. In first year he enrolled in Ordinary Mathematics. In second year he took classes in Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, and Mathematics again in his third year. In his fourth and final year he enrolled in English. It was not a graduating curriculum in that he did not enrol for exams. When the war began he enlisted in the 7th Bn. Seaforth Highlanders.

It was on 12th October 1916 that he was killed in the same battle as two young man who were his contemporaries at university, Thomas Houston Boyle and John Steele Allan. In addition to slogging through the deepest imaginable mud, the troops were suffering from a diet of cold food and the prevalence of illness. Conditions were poor, even for the Somme. The Seaforths were met by machine gun fire immediately as they attempted to attack the trenches between Snag Trench and the Warlencourt line defended by Bavarian troops and an important objective during the Battle of Le Transloy. Casualties mounted. Private James Ross was among them. Aged 26, his name is honoured and remembered at the Thiepval Memorial.