R. Hamish M. Munro, Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Munro, Salisbury, S. Rhodesia, was born on 14th August 1912. Coming to Watson's in 1928, he left in 1930 to enter Edinburgh University where he graduated B.Com. in 1933. Returning to S. Rhodesia he was trained for the timber-merchant's business with which his father was associated, and served with that firm until May 1940, when he returned to England to join the R.A.F. He was commissioned Pilot Officer in December 1940 and was killed in action at Malta on 12th June 1941.
Alastair G. Murray, Sergeant, Royal Air Force, was the son of the late Mr. A. W. G. Murray and Mrs. Murray, 13 Capstone Road, Bournemouth. Born on 31st August 1920, he came to Watson's from Daniel Stewart's College in 1931 and left in 1935 to enter Nelson's College, with a view to entering the Civil Service. His first appointment was at the Admiralty, London, and later he entered the Estate Duty Office, Inland Revenue, Edinburgh. In November 1939, he volunteered for service with the R.A.F., in which he was trained as Wireless Operator and Air-gunner and attained the rank of sergeant. He was killed in action over the German lines near St. Valery on 11th June 1940.
NEW MUNICH TRENCH BRITISH CEMETERY, BEAUMONT-HAMEL
A son of Mr. J. Murray, Glasgow, was born at Chung King, W. China, in 1897. Coming to this country, he entered G.W.C. in 1909. Later he transferred to Glasgow Academy, and was about to enter Glasgow Univ. to train as a medical missionary when war broke out. His two years' training in the O.T.C. gained him a commission in the 4th H.L.I. He fell leading his men into action on Nov. 18, 1916.
The only son of the late J. C. Murray, lawyer, was born at Lochgilphead in 1898, and attended G.W.C. 1912-16. On leaving School he joined the Army as a Pte. in the A. and S. H., and was soon sent to France. He saw much fighting at Arras and on the Marne, and was wounded in June 1917. On July 21, 1918, he was killed in action.
A son of Mr. W. L. Murray, Edin., was born in 1889, and attended G.W.C. 1894-1906. He joined the staff of Messrs. Low, Robertson and Coy., Leith. He had been a Pte. in the 9th R.S. before the outbreak of war, and rejoining his old battalion on 6th Aug. 1914, went to Flanders in 1915. He received a commission in the 8th Seaforth Hrs. in Nov., and fell May 22, 1916, while in charge of his platoon, working at a new trench.
A son of Mr. A. Murray, Secy. of the Scottish Local Government Board, was born in 1894, and entered G.W.C. in 1901, where he remained for ten years. He studied law at Edin. Univ., where he was a member of the O.T.C., and entered the service of a legal firm. On the outbreak of war he received a commission in the R.G.A., was stationed for a time on the Forth, and was subsequently transferred to France. He was wounded while rescuing men from under an overturned wagon at Ypres, and died at Boulogne, Feb. 25, 1916. He was buried in the Eastern Cemetery there. The M.C. was subsequently conferred on him for his gallant act.
The youngest son of the late Rev. R. Naismith, Chirnside, was born in 1889, and coming to G.W.C. at the age of 11, remained till 1907. He joined the R.S. on the outbreak of where, and on completing his training was sent to the East, where he served in the Palestine campaign, and was posted missing after the battle of Gaza in Nov. 1917.
J. Lauder Nicol, D.S.O., Wing Commander, Royal Air Force, was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Lauder Nicol, Carisbrooke Road, Leicester, and formerly of Edinburgh. Born in 1913, he came to Watson's from Merchiston Castle in 1927 and left in 1931 to enter the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Edinburgh. Abandoning medicine after two years' study, he was commissioned in the R.A.F. in 1936 and went to Egypt. There he served with a Bomber Squadron and subsequently became its Adjutant. He also acted as a Test Pilot for some time in W. Africa. His chief sport was boxing, and he won the heavyweight championship of the three services in the Middle East. In May 1941 he returned to this country and was posted to the command of a Bomber Squadron in July 1941. He was awarded the D.S.O. for his daring low-level, daylight attack on the Knapsack Power Station at Cologne, and was killed in action a week later on 19th August 1941.
A son of Mr. D. Nicoll, solicitor, Leven, was born in 1883, and entered G.W.C. in 1894. He afterwards studied at Edin. Univ., where he graduated LL.B., and entered his father's business at Leven. He was a keen footballer and an excellent golfer and tennis player. Early in 1916 he enlisted in the London Scottish, and fell in action on the French front on Sept. 10, while leading a bombing raid.
The eldest son of the late Rev. W. M. Nicolson, D.Sc., Torquay, was born in 1870, and was educated at G.W.C., Victoria Coll., Jersey, and Bristol Grammar School. He completed two sessions in Arts at Edin. Univ., when he went to Sandhurst and passed high in the honours list. He obtained a commission in the Royal Munster Fus., May 1892, was promoted the same year, and transferred to the I.A., in which he received his Captaincy in 1901 and his Majority in 1910. He saw service on the N.W. Frontier of India 1897-98, in the Malakand, Mohmand and Tirah campaigns, and was awarded the Medal with clasps. He also served in British East Africa in the operations against the Ogaden Somalis in Jubaland, and the expedition to Nandi, for which he received the Medal and clasp. He was a good sportsman, and had a fine collection of heads of game. He was killed in action in Mesopotamia at the battle of Al Hannah, Jan. 21, 1916.
