Rank
Second Lieutenant
Medals
British War Medal, Victory Medal
Regiment
Highland Light Infantry, 3rd Battalion, attached 2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Military Service
Moir served in the OTC at school and on 1st January 1914 became the youngest Colour Sergeant the corps had ever had. Immediately on leaving school he received a commission in 3rd (Reserve) Battalion HLI in July 1915 while still only 17 years old. He arrived in France in May 1916 and it is presumably at that time that he served with 12th HLI (46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division). He was wounded at the Somme in August 1916 and when he returned to France at the beginning of February 1917 he was attached to 2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry (18th Brigade, 6th Division). His school obituary records that he was killed on the first day of the Battle of Arras but this is misleading. The 6th Division was north of Arras holding trenches from Loos north to the Hohenzollern Redoubt , an area which had been heavily fought over in 1915. Moir was actually killed during an unsuccessful raid on the German front line during the night of 8th/9th April.
Battle of Arras Location
Born
10th October 1897, Glasgow
Death
9th April 1917
Circumstances of death
Age
19
Memorial
Loos Memorial, Panel 108 to 112.
CWGC Information
Son of Professor James Moir, LL.D., and Mrs. Moir, 9 University Gardens, Glasgow
Parents
James Moir (1841-1915) & Jean Love (c1856- ) maried 1887, Beith, Ayrshire
Fathers Occupation
Writer, Professor of Conveyancing University of Glasgow
Siblings
Alexander J (1888-1899), Andrew A L (c1891-), Jessie L (c1894-), George H (c1894-1925), Andreas A Le C (c1896-1961)
Spouse
Education
Kelvinside Academy
1st XV in rugby; in the Debating Society; Dux (Classics) in 1915.
Occupation
1901 Census
1911 Census
9 University Gardens, Partick
Home Address
Rosemount, Kincardine-on-Forth
Glasgow Necropolis
Compartment
Primus Lair not known
Other Memorials
Scottish National War Memorial
Tulliallan War Memorial
Other Information
Both surviving brothers were also educated at Kelvinside Academy and served in the First World War.
Acknowledgements and Sources
Much of the information on which this profile is based is drawn from various internet sources which are listed below. The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis also wish to make full acknowledgement and thanks for the permitted use of any information or images generously supplied specifically for exhibition, publication or display in connection with The Roll of Honour and accompanying profiles to Kelvinside Academy, Ancestry, and Find my past.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Family Search
Scotlands People
The Long, Long Trail
The Scottish War Memorials Project
2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry, War Diary August 1914 – March 1919. (TNA WO 95/1617)
Lees, W & P Williams, Kelvinside Academy and the Great War. 1998
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Medals
British War Medal, Victory Medal
Regiment
Durham Light Infantry
Regiment Information
Highland Light Infantry, 3rd Battalion, attached 2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Military Service
Moir served in the OTC at school and on 1st January 1914 became the youngest Colour Sergeant the corps had ever had. Immediately on leaving school he received a commission in 3rd (Reserve) Battalion HLI in July 1915 while still only 17 years old. He arrived in France in May 1916 and it is presumably at that time that he served with 12th HLI (46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division). He was wounded at the Somme in August 1916 and when he returned to France at the beginning of February 1917 he was attached to 2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry (18th Brigade, 6th Division). His school obituary records that he was killed on the first day of the Battle of Arras but this is misleading. The 6th Division was north of Arras holding trenches from Loos north to the Hohenzollern Redoubt , an area which had been heavily fought over in 1915. Moir was actually killed during an unsuccessful raid on the German front line during the night of 8th/9th April.
Battle of Arras Location
Born
10th October 1897, Glasgow
Death
9th April 1917
Circumstances of Death
Age
19
Burial
Loos Memorial, Panel 108 to 112.
CWGC Information
Son of Professor James Moir, LL.D., and Mrs. Moir, 9 University Gardens, Glasgow
Parents
James Moir (1841-1915) & Jean Love (c1856- ) maried 1887, Beith, Ayrshire
Father's Occupation
Writer, Professor of Conveyancing University of Glasgow
Siblings
Alexander J (1888-1899), Andrew A L (c1891-), Jessie L (c1894-), George H (c1894-1925), Andreas A Le C (c1896-1961)
Spouse
Education
Kelvinside Academy
1st XV in rugby; in the Debating Society; Dux (Classics) in 1915.
Occupation
1911 Census
9 University Gardens, Partick
Home Address
Rosemount, Kincardine-on-Forth
Glasgow Necropolis
Compartment
Primus Lair not known
1901 Census
Other Memorials
Scottish National War Memorial
Tulliallan War Memorial
Other Information
Both surviving brothers were also educated at Kelvinside Academy and served in the First World War.
Acknowledgements and Sources
Much of the information on which this profile is based is drawn from various internet sources which are listed below. The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis also wish to make full acknowledgement and thanks for the permitted use of any information or images generously supplied specifically for exhibition, publication or display in connection with The Roll of Honour and accompanying profiles to Kelvinside Academy, Ancestry, and Find my past.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Family Search
Scotlands People
The Long, Long Trail
The Scottish War Memorials Project
2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry, War Diary August 1914 – March 1919. (TNA WO 95/1617)
Lees, W & P Williams, Kelvinside Academy and the Great War. 1998
Credits
Compiled by Morag Fyfe, Historical and Genealogical Researcher for The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis.
Kelvinside Academy School Prefects 1913-14
Robert Bruce Oliphant Moir Monument - Primus