Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Great War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Great War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
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210074
Pte. James Robert Smith
British Army 2nd Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
from:Paisley, Scotland
My grandfather, James R Smith, was a piper in the 2nd Battalion. He and two of his cousins lied about their age and enlisted when they were just 14. He was wounded twice, once when mustard gas burned his arms and back and the second time when an artillery shell collapsed part of the trench he was in on top of him. Shortly before the beginning of the Third Battle of Ypres, his commander discovered his age, and sent him to a unit in the rear. During the Ypres battle, his former unit suffered severe casualties, and both of the cousins he enlisted with were killed. After the war, he emigrated to the United States and married.