First World War Victory Medal – Private Donald MacPherson, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders
Victory Medal – S-26100 PTE. D. MACPHERSON. CAMERONS.
Donald MacPherson was born at Sleat, Inverness-shire, in 1894, and was the son of Angus and Alice MacPherson, of 8, Sasaig, Sleat, Isle of Skye. He appears in the 1901 Census aged seven, living at a crofter’s house in Sleat with his parents and extended family. Prior to enlistment he was resident at Alexandria, Dumbartonshire, and worked in civilian life as a machineman.
MacPherson enlisted at Alexandria on 3 December 1915, aged 22, joining the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. He was posted to the 6th Battalion, a war service battalion, and received regimental number S/26100. Following training, the battalion proceeded to France and Flanders, where it entered active service on the Western Front.
By April 1917, the 6th Camerons were engaged in operations during the Battle of Arras, a major British offensive characterised by sustained infantry assaults against heavily defended German positions. The battalion took part in the fighting in the Arras sector during the opening stages of the offensive.
Private Donald MacPherson was wounded during the fighting and died of his wounds on 11 April 1917, aged 23. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 9, which records the names of those who fell in the Arras sector and whose graves are unknown.
Contemporary reports from Skye recorded his death and noted that his family had suffered a further loss, as his younger brother, Alexander MacPherson, had been lost when a minesweeper was sunk approximately one month earlier.
Donald MacPherson is named on the Sleat War Memorial, ensuring his service is permanently recorded within his home community on the Isle of Skye.
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