Missing soldier was nearly killed two years earlier

Schoolboys were being ‘called up’ in a fresh move to ease Britian’s agricultural labour crisis.

Headmasters were urged by the Government to release boys of 16 and over from their desks, in public and secondary schools, so they could help bring in the harvest.

The country was facing an acute food shortage because of the war and rationing of many staple items had already been introduced.

But food supply problems had worsened because of the large number of agricultural labourers who had been called up by the armed services due to the perilous military position. A soldier from Easter Ballat, near Balfron, who enlisted when he was 16, was posted missing between April 10 and 18, the Observer reported. Former apprentice blacksmith John McIntyre joined the A&SH and was severely wounded two years earlier, almost losing his life, but he recovered and joined the Machine Gun Corps. He returned to France a few months earlier for a another spell of frontline duty. Posted missing Another Balfron area soldier to be missing was Tom Simpson, who only landed in France a few weeks earlier. He joined the Cameron Highlanders but was transferred to the Seaforth Highlanders. The sympathy of the community was extended to his relatives. Died of wounds Mrs Douglas, Station Road, Dunblane, received official confirmation her husband Robert, a company sergeant major in the Black Watch, died of wounds in France on May 6, 1918. He was a regular soldier who went to France with the First Indian Contingent shortly after the start of war. He had seen much fighting on the Western Front and also served in Mesopotamia. French honour For saving the life of a French officer during a gas attack, Pte J Sangster, Army Service Corps, from Gartocharn, was awarded the Medaille Militaire. Medal award In Kinbuck, villagers learned that the bravery of L/Cpl Dougal McDougall, A&SH, had been recognised. The former signalman at the station there was awarded the Military Medal and promoted . L/ Cpl McDougall, from Appin, was one of four brothers with the forces. He had over the past three years taken part in some of the biggest battles on the Western Front and up to then “not received a scratch.” Prisoner of war There was “unofficial news” in Gartmore that Pte Alex Stewart, Black Watch, had been reported missing on March 21, 1918, and was a prisoner in Germany. Brothers Donald and John had both won Military Medals. Postcard for parents Mr and Mrs Duncan McGill received a postcard from their son John, a private with the Black Watch, stating he was a prisoner of war in Germany. He had earlier been posted missing. Held in Germany In Dunblane, the following Black Watch soldiers from the area, also posted missing, had sent to their families postcards saying they were prisoners of war in Germany: Sgt McLellan, son of Mr and Mrs McLellan, Kirk Street; Pte John Angus Ross, son of Mr and Mrs Ross, Clarendon Place, and Pte McLeod, son of Mrs McLeod, Well Place. Visited aunt In Kippen, Gunner Alex Gall, New Zealand Field Artillery was visiting his aunt, Mrs Charles Watson. The Observer said villagers would remember his father who emigrated to New Zealand 10 years earlier and was the contractor who constructed “the excellent bit of road leading to Wright Place and fine avenue leading up to the house”. Gunner Gall was wounded in France and had been in hospital for some time. He was working as a bush farmer in New Zealand and joined up at the start of the war. And Kippen soldier George McQueen, who had suffered severely from being gassed, was well enough to visit his parents. Road toll On the home front, The Observer noted that in pre-war days 12,000 tourists were annually driven over the Duke of Montrose’s private road between Aberfoyle and the Trossachs. They paid four shillings and six each way of which the Duke receive one shilling per passenger. Added the paper: “This looks like a good thing for His Grace but it has to be remembered he bore the cost of making the 14 miles of hilly road and also has the expense of maintaining it.”