John Elliot, Captain, King's Own Scottish Borderers, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Elliot, 8 Howe Street, Edinburgh, was born in Berwickshire on l0th March 1910. He attended Watson's from 1923 to 1926. After serving an apprenticeship in Chirnside Paper Mill, he joined the firm of Messrs. Johnstone, Horsburgh & Co., London, and four years later returned to Chirnside as assistant manager. As a Territorial he was called up for service at the outbreak of war, soon gained his commission, and rose to the rank of captain and adjutant of the 4th Battalion, K.O.S.B. He was killed in Germany on 24th January 1945.
James O. Ewart, C.B.E., O.B.E., Colonel, Intelligence Corps, only child of Mr. and Mrs. J. Oliver Ewart, Fanans, Taynuilt, Argyllshire, and formerly of 2 Craiglockhart Crescent, Edinburgh, was born on 3rd April 1917 and entered Watson's from the Royal High School in 1929. An excellent all-rounder, he played for the 3rd XV and 2nd XI and was Dux of the School in 1935. Proceeding to Edinburgh University, he graduated M.A. with First Class Honours in Classics in 1939. Enlisting in the 9th Battalion, The Royal Scots, he was gazetted Second Lieutenant, The Royal Scots, and attached to the Intelligence Corps. During his student days he had travelled widely in Europe and had made himself proficient in many languages, including French, German, Dutch, Modern Greek, Spanish and Italian. At the age of twenty-five he was a Lieutenant-Colonel; at twenty-eight he had been awarded the O.B.E. and C.B.E., and had attained the rank of Colonel, being attached successively to the staffs of Generals Wavell, Auchinleck Montgomery and Eisenhower. He was in charge of the German surrender mission during their visit to Field-Marshal Montgomery, and was killed in a road accident near the castle of Ostenwalde, Germany, on 1st July 1945.
Robert R. Ewing, O.B.E., Brigadier, attached to the Indian Army, was the son of the late Rev. Dr. W. Ewing, Edinburgh,. Born in 1891 he was a pupil at Watson's from 1899 to 1909. During the first world war he served as a Lieutenant in the 61st King George's Own Pioneers, and was taken prisoner in East Africa in 1915, but was released on parole. He then joined the Burma Commission with which he remained, holding various administrative positions. In the Spring of 1943 he took over the post of Deputy Chief Civil Liaison Officer, acting as Liaison Officer between the British Government and the Eastern Army. He died in hospital in Calcutta in December 1943.
The elder son of Mr. J. B. Fairgrieve, Edin., was born in 1885, and attended G.W.C. 1890-1902. He entered the service of the Edin. and Leith Corporation Gas Commissioners, and was a prominent amateur photographer. A keen Volunteer, he was mobilised with the 4th R.S., of which he had been a member for ten years. Transferring with the rank of Sgt. to the M.G.C., he was kept at home as an instructor. He was sent to France in March 1917, and on Apr. 26 of that year was instantaneously killed.
Thomas W. H. Fairie, Captain, Royal Engineers, was the younger son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Knox Fairie, 191 Braid Road, Edinburgh, and was a pupil at Watson's from 1927 to 1940, when he entered the Faculty of Arts, Edinburgh University. Joining the R.E. in August 1941, he was commissioned in 1942 and later promoted to the rank of Captain. He crossed to France on D Day, and was killed in action in February 1945.
The son of Mr. J. Fairley, Edin., was born in 1898, and attended G.W.C. 1903-12, after which he went to the Westminster Technical Institute for a business training. While in London he was a member of the 1st Westminster Scout Corps. In 1916 he joined the R.A.S.C. (M.T.), but was later transferred at his own request to the Tank Corps. In Sept. 1917 he went to France, and in Aug. 1918, having been mortally wounded at Cachet-le-grand, he died in hospital at Wimereux, Aug. 25, 1918.
Was born in 1891, and attended G.W.C. 1896-1907. He joined the 2/9th R.S., and was attached to the Machine Gun Section as a Sgr. Proceeding to France, he was severely wounded in action on March 30, 1918, while tending a wounded man, and died at 41st C.C.S. on Apr. 5 of the same year.
George C. Falconer, Sergeant Air-Gunner, Royal Air Force, was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. George Muirhead Falconer, Bonnyview, Broxburn. Born 11th January 1921, he left Watson's in 1936 to enter the service of The British Linen Bank. He volunteered for service in the R.A.F. in 1940, qualified as a Sergeant Air-Gunner and took part in several raids over Germany. In the 1,000 Bomber-Raid on Essen on 1st June, 1942, his aircraft was last seen in the Target Area. There were no survivors.
The younger son of Rev. R. H. Falconer, Secy. of the Nat. Bible Society of Scotland, Edin., was born at Carnbee in 1897, and educated at G.W.C. 1907-14. He was a member of the O.T.C., 1911-14. He was holidaying in Switzerland when war broke out, but, returning home in Sept., he enlisted in the 9th R.S., in the ranks of which he served for five months round Ypres, 1915. He got a commission in the 3rd R.S., July 1915, and, returning to France in Mar. 1916, was attached to the 11th R.S. He was killed by shell fire at Ploegsteert, Belgium, on May 13, 1916, during a heavy bombardment.
Ian S. Farquharson, Second Lieutenant, The Gordon Highlanders, was the only son of the late Mr. W. Farquharson, for many years mathematics master at Daniel Stewart's College.. Entering the senior school in 1922, he proved himself a first-rate scholar and was awarded a bursary in the fifth form. Leaving in 1928 he became a Chartered Accountant in 1934, and joined the staff of Messrs. Brown, Fleming & Murray, Chartered Accountants, London. On the outbreak of war he enrolled in the ranks of the London Scottish, and soon received a commission in the Gordon Highlanders. His battalion moved to France in January 1940 and " Farquhy " was killed in May while holding a difficult position under heavy fire on the River Dyle, some fifteen miles east of Brussels.
