Cruickshank, James Orr
Rank: Private
Regiment: 4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders
Biography: Second son of Samuel Cruickshank, teacher, Tarfside, Glenesk ; born Brechin, 17 August 1895 ; educated there ; matriculated in Arts and Science, 1913. On the outbreak of war he was already a private in "U" Coy., 4th Gordons; and underwent training with his regiment at Bedford, where his Captain had occasion to notice his intelligence and unselfish usefulness. In the following February he crossed with the regiment to the Front in Belgian Flanders. There he actively and dutifully served till he met his death, 15 April 1915, in the trench in front of Wytschaete from the bullet of a German sniper. He was the second of the University Company of the 4th Gordons to give his life for his country and her sacred cause. An able student and a modest, attractive personality—known, too, as a runner and member of the Harriers' Club—he was deeply mourned by his comrades both in the University and in the Regiment. His Captain calls him "certainly one of the keenest members of my company . . . altogether a most likeable man and one of the best ".
Date of Death: 15 April 1915
Burial Details: Buried at La Clytte Military Cemetery, Reninghelst, Plot 1, Row B, Grave 3.
Publication: Roll of Service, edited by Mabel Desborough Allardyce. Published 1921.
If you have photographs of anyone listed in the Roll of Honour (preferably in service uniform) or have any questions about this resource, please email memoriam@abdn.ac.uk.