| Administrative History | Ian Macdonald (1896-1968) was the eldest son of Sinclair Macdonald, architect, of Thurso, and Minnie his wife. (He was christened John George but was known as Ian.)
On 11 September Sinclair and Ian Macdonald enlisted in the Caithness Territorial Force. Ian was enrolled as a Lance Corporal in the 10th (Lovat Scouts) Division of the Cameron Highlanders and, after training at Beauly, served three years, two of them overseas in Egypt, Gallipoli and Salonica.
In August 1917 he began officer training. On 27 November 1917 he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 5th Division of the Seaforth Highlanders.
He was posted to France and on 11 April was reported missing. It took a month for his family to learn that he was alive and a prisoner: the confusion arose because two officers with the same name were reported missing on the same day, and there was also uncertainty as to whether he had been listed in the regiment as Ian or John.
After he was located his father arranged through the Red Cross and other organisations to send food parcels and even books. Nevertheless, like many other prisoners of war, his health suffered and he was forced to take a year off before completing his studies, graduating in Civil engineering from Edinburgh University in 1922.
[Extracted from biographical note supplied by Stroma Riungu – see P848/55 for more details] |