First World War Medal Pair – Lance Corporal Gavin Hamilton, Cameron Highlanders – POW March 1918
British War Medal – 5488 PTE. G. HAMILTON. CAMERONS.
Victory Medal – 5488 PTE. G. HAMILTON. CAMERONS.
Gavin Hamilton was born on 5 March 1889 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire. He was the son of Gavin Hamilton and Isabella Bain and grew up in Glasgow, later residing at 3 Stirling Street, off High Street, Glasgow. In October 1914 he married Jessie Donaldson in Glasgow, and the couple would go on to have several children during and after the war.
He enlisted into the 4th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders (Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders) and was later posted to the 6th Battalion for overseas service. During the fighting of July/August 1917 he was reported Wounded in Action, his name appearing in the War Office Casualty List dated 23 August 1917.
He returned to duty but was again caught up in heavy fighting during the German Spring Offensive of 1918. On 28 March 1918, while serving as a Lance Corporal, C Company, 6th Camerons, he was involved in the fighting at Wancourt, near Arras, and was subsequently reported Missing in Action. It was later established that he had been taken Prisoner of War.
At home in Glasgow, his wife was officially informed that he was missing and presumed dead, and she applied for a pension on that basis. In a dramatic reversal, it later emerged that he was in fact alive and being held in captivity in Germany.
He survived the war, was repatriated following the Armistice, and returned to civilian life in Glasgow. He died on 18 September 1961 in Glasgow, aged 72.
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AJMS Medals