WW1 Victory Medal named CAPT D SINCLAIR. Please note only Capt D Sinclair listed.
David Sinclair born 1881 and his family came from Leith. He enlisted into the 7th Scottish Rifles and landed in France on 21st Mar 1915 with them. At some stage he was attached to the 5th battalion. On 20th July 1916 the battalion marched up to High Wood at 12.15am to attack the Germans. They had the Royal Fusiliers in the rear and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in reserve. The Cameronians were lined on the right for the attack. They advanced to attack the Germans as the first salvo from the British artillery opened fire. This caused the Germans to let loose with their artillery. It was so dark they could see nothing in the distance. They rushed through the wood to the far side sweeping up machine gun nests and some trenches. At the far side they immediately started digging trenches to hold the wood. The Germans counterattacked and push the right and left side back but the middle held and Major Macalister organised a counterattack where he was killed. The 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers arrived in time to help push the German counterattack back. They held the wood and were relieved at 11pm. In the war diary it notes Lt Sinclair was wounded and only 1 officer and 198 soldier were not casualties.
The official papers confirm that Lt Sinclair was also missing in action and his body was eventually found and buried north of High Wood. His grave was eventually moved to Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval.
