Newtonmore – Banchor Cemetery

Following the recent post in which I showed you the war memorial at Newtonmore,…

…should you ever find yourself in the area, don’t miss this old burial ground, once the site of a 6th Century chapel, now long gone.

This is the view on entry,…

…and looking left,…

…and right,…

…and further right.  Just inside the cemetery entrance,…

…this headstone and adjacent plaque,…

…really need no added words.

Tragedy on Skye, 1872.

Ambrose Norris Wilson was a gunner with the R.F.A., killed exactly one month before the Great War’s end; his brother Captain James N. Wilson, Army Service Corps, died in an accident in 1932.

Private John MacPherson, Royal Scots Fusiliers, was killed in action on 31st July 1917 aged 34; his name can be found on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing.

Nearby,…

…this headstone remembers Private William Grant Campbell, Royal Scots, who died of wounds on 15th July 1916, aged 29.  He is buried in Corbie Communal Cemetery Extension on the Somme.

Beyond Guardsman Ross’s headstone, in the right background you will spot another CWGC grave near the second, padlocked, set of cemetery gates,…

…that of Private J. McQueen, Cameron Highlanders, who died on 29th December 1916 aged 29.

Time to see what we can find on the other side of the path.

Just in front of those pictured in the previous photo, this headstone remembers James Anderson, killed, it says, in the Dardanelles in 1915 serving with the Australian Forces. You can find out more about him in the comments section here.

Clearly I missed the grave of Serjeant Donald Alexander Cattanach, Cameron Highlanders, who died on 9th August 1914 aged 35, and is buried hereabouts (see inset), but I can tell you that Private John Cattanach, Highland Light Infantry, mentioned on this headstone, is actually given a date of death of 1st August 1917 on the CWGC database.  His name can be found on the Menin Gate Memorial.

Tragedy in Hong Kong, 1950.

On the other side of the pathway, two casualties of the Desert War in 1942, one killed in Libya,…

…the other in Egypt.

An interesting place, I hope you agree.

POSTSCRIPT

Serjeant Donald Alexander Cattanach, the man I missed on my visit, was, it seems, hiding behind a tree,…

…the branches of which can just be seen in this shot of his headstone.

The tentacles of theBigNote reach far and wide (thank you Morag).

This entry was posted in Highlands, Scotland, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Newtonmore – Banchor Cemetery

  1. Margaret Draycott says:

    Yes a very interesting spot also a very pretty spot, headstones look pretty weathered hard to read some. A very varied mix of those killed in action all parts of the globe.
    Particularly sad the POW one, although all obviously a tragedy to each family.
    Certainly like to get as many names on a headstone as possible.

  2. Morag Sutherland says:

    I was happy to go in and take the necessary photos of Cattanach grave marker but that poor woman lost her daughter and then her husband and never remarried . She died in Leslie I’m Fife. I thought I had sent that grave marker earlier? Although of course it is not exactly why you asked me to take the extra photos….. all the best from wild north

    • Magicfingers says:

      Yes you did send it, and I appreciated it. However, although you are quite right to point out her tragedy, I made an editorial decision years ago about such instances (as you will appreciate, I come across so many similar stories in so many English, Scottish or Welsh churchyards and cemeteries), so usually I leave it to our readers to read the headstones, and it’s up to them to take it further should they so wish. Having said that, always happy for someone else to add stuff as you have above. Thanks very much again for completing this post.

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