David and the 12th (Service) Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders arrived at Boulogne on the 20/09/1915 but soon moved and by November 1915 they were at Salonika. They were part of the 77th Brigade, 26th Division. On the 26/12/1915, units began to move from Lembet to Happy Valley Camp and all units were in place there by the 08/02/1916. The 26th Division remained in the Salonika theatre for the rest of the war, taking part in the following operations in 1918 - The Battle of Doiran on the 18th - 19th September 1918 and the Pursuit to the the Strumica Valley on the 22nd - 30th September 1918. The 26th Division had suffered casualties of 8,022 killed, wounded and missing during the war but vastly larger numbers sick with malaria, dysentery and other diseases rife in the Salonika theatre. David originally joined the 8th (Service) Battalion Gordon Highlanders on the 08/09/1914. He Died of Wounds at the 28th General Hospital in Salonika. He had been wounded and taken prisoner but was left behind when the Turks evacuated. He was unable to walk but cabled home that he was not dangerously ill. However he succumbed some days later. David had not been home since enlisting in 1914. He died 23 days before the Armistice having served for 4 years. He was a prominent member of the Caldervale Cricket Club. Grave photo kindly donated by Mick McCann at the British War Graves website who supply photos FREE OF CHARGE
here. See photos for David's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clipping, David and his brother on the North Lanarkshire Electoral Register, his Army Record of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration x 3, his Headstone Report x 2, Mikra British Cemetery, his Service Records x 15, David's Pension Records x 2, his original Regiment the Gordon Highlanders Cap Badge and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Cap Badge. David's Grave inscription reads "HE HAS DIED TO SAVE HIS COUNTRY HE WILL HAVE HIS LORD'S WILL DONE". Finally, see photos for Newspaper clippings x 5 (Coatbridge Express x 2, Coatbridge Leader x 1 and Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 2). Finally, see photos x 14 for the 26th Division Order of Battle (the Division he was serving with when he died).
