Ewen, John Birnie
Rank: Private
Regiment: 4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders
Biography: Son of James Ewen, nurseryman; born Aberdeen, 21 February 1893; educated Robert Gordon's College; matriculated in Arts, 1910, entering the University as 13th Bursar; graduated M.A., 1914, with Second Class Honours in Classics. He represented the University in Association football and in tennis, being awarded his "full-blue " in the latter. In October 1914, after a previous medical rejection, he joined the 2/4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders and trained with them in Aberdeen until March 1915, when he had the hard experience of being drafted straight from his own home to the Battalion in France. It was his strong sense of duty that took him to France, for he had just gained in open competition a post under the National Health Insurance Commission and only with much difficulty was he allowed to continue on service. He remained with the 2/4th Gordons until his death on that black 25 September 1915 when the Battalion gained such costly distinction at Hooge. Though modest and self-effacing in disposition, Ewen had a strong trait of sympathy and helpfulness that is gratefully remembered by many.
Date of Death: 25 September 1915
Burial Details: Name recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Panel 38, Column 6.
Publication: Roll of Service, edited by Mabel Desborough Allardyce. Published 1921.
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