992 John Macrae British Army Seaforth Highlanders from:Applecross, Wester Ross I'm trying to look into my maternal grandfather's WW1 history with the Seaforth Highlanders. He sadly died in 1980 aged 85, and quite understandably rarely talked of his experiences other than to berate my mother and her siblings over their groans when they were "starving" or such flippancies.
I have very little to go on other than a very common West Highland name, John Macrae. He was born 1895 and was from Applecross, Wester Ross. He was wounded during one of the epic battles of the First War. I had heard a rumour that he had gone missing or had got lost during the mists in one of the best known battles, First Ypres (maybe the Somme) and turned up in a farmhouse with other soldiers but this is largely hearsay. Additional Information: | Jack Macrae joined up in February 1916. He was from a small isolated Highland community and worked with his older brother as a rabbit trapper prior to enlistment. He arrived at the front in 1916 after training. He was wounded by shrapnel early in 1917 and was hospitalised at Queen Mary's in London following which he went to further recuperate at Randalstown Command Depot. Subsequently he was transferred to the Labour Corps where he saw out the remainder of the war. Jack was awarded a pension for 18 months from 1919 with a 30% disability. Annabel Janet Macrae
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