Histories

Bill, aged 29, married Annie Walker Spence on 31^st December 1925 in Crieff.  It was not unusual for marriages to take place on Hogmanay as the next day would be a public holiday in Scotland.  Their marriage certificate describes him as a baker journeyman of 54 North Street and his wife, Annie, as a 30 year old domestic servant from Auchterarder.

They had six children, of whom two are still very much alive and who, for these purposes I will refer to as JW and JC.

JC remembers her mother unveiling the WW2 war memorial in Comrie.  Neither of the children, or their mother knew the true story of Bill's death and just knew he was missing, presumed dead with no known grave.

Bill must have served his apprenticeship as a baker after he left school.  JW says he served it with Uncle Adam Alexander and they were both apprentices at "Dunbars" the bakers in Coupar Angus and were great friends for ever after.  JW remembers that after WW1 Bill worked in a bakery in Comrie called "Wallace the Bakers", which was the only shop in Dalginross, not far from the War Memorial. JC remembers that, when she was growing up, it was a "Home-baked Cake Shop" which later became a gift shop.

 

 

By 1927 they had moved to Craiglea, Drummond Street in Comrie.  Comrie is a small village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands, in Perthshire.  The photo is of 19 Drummond Street a couple of years ago but it looks like it could have been much the same in 1927.

Interested in finding out when Bill had died, I found a record of a death in 1944 of a soldier in the Royal Army Service Corps, which could have included a baker, born in Perth but living in Angus.  I sent for his death certificate.

Additional information was then found on the Alamein memorial of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) which confirmed the connection by naming Anne as his wife.  It also mentioned his foster parents, Mr & Mrs William McDonald, living in Coupar Angus.

His death certificate says he was “presumed killed in action whilst a P.O.W” in North Africa.  He is commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission with a citation on the Alamein War Memorial.  Pretty obvious then, because the dates fit, he died somewhere near Alamein in North Africa.  No !

Read about Bill's childhood, or go to his WW1 exploits or find out the extraordinary story of how he died.