Trooper died in Palestine campaign

A well-known former Stirling High School pupil died in hospital in Egypt from wounds sustained in fighting in Palestine.

Trooper Harry Farmer was serving with the Machine Gun Squadron of New Zealand Mounted Rifles.

He was the second son of the late Mr William Farmer, and Mrs Farmer, who resided at 23 Albert Place.

The Observer said Trooper Farmer would be warmly remembered by former High School pupils.

“Of an extremely lively disposition,probably his first experiences of massed fighting were gained in Spittal Street where he was found hurling snowballs and defiance at the Allan’s School pupils,” said the paper.

He was an all-round sportsman and a leading light in entertainment provided for the poor at East Church.

He was also a member of Fourth Volunteer Battalion A&SH and remembered for “the vigour of his work in bayonet exercises”.

Trooper Farmer emigrated to New Zealand to take up sheep farming and volunteered his services to the military before war had even been declared.

He went on to serve in the Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine campaigns.

Trooper Farmer’s elder brother was a solicitor in Glasgow and his younger brother Charles was a former Randolph Medallist at the High School.