More about Alexander Duncan

Alexander has no known grave but is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.

Alexander Duncan   CZ/4333   Hawke Bn Royal Naval Division

WOUNDED AT THE DARDANELLES.

Another Dundee member of the Royal Naval Division has been wounded in the fighting against the Turks at the Dardanelles.  In a letter to a friend in Dundee O.S. Alexander Duncan writes :^___”While taking part in the advance on 6th May, I was bowled over by a Turkish bullet, which hit me in the right thigh, and I am at present in hospital in Alexandria.  The wound is progressing favourably.  We are having plenty to eat, drink and smoke, so we’re all happy.

“The landing at the Dardanelles proved a costly affair, but it was a magnificent piece of work on the part of our troops.  Our Division has suffered pretty heavily.  The Turks had their flying machines over our base dropping bombs on us, but luckily doing little damage.  The warships are doing grand work.  You should see the Queen Elizabeth shelling the Turkish positions, carrying all before her.”

O.S. Alexander Duncan, who is twenty-two years of age, was formerly employed at Wallace Foundry, Dundee, where he served his apprenticeship. He joined the Naval brigade shortly after the outbreak of war.

Dundee Courier 10th June 1915

Alexander Duncan was the son of Mr and Mrs J H Duncan who lived at 75a and later at 161 Strathmartine Road in Dundee. He was employed as a Grocer in April 1915 when he volunteered to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve onboard HMS Unicorn for service in the Royal Naval Division. After initial Naval Training at the Crystal Palace in South London he was sent to Blandford Camp in Dorset for advanced military training. On completion he was drafted to the Hawke Battalion and he arrived in Gallipoli in September 1915. In late October he was hospitalised at West Mudros on the island of Lemnos with dysentery. He rejoined the Battalion just before the withdrawal from Gallipoli in January 1916 and stayed with it, carrying out garrison duties in the Aegean. The Hawke Battalion sailed for France in May 1916. After training in Army tactics the RND began to experience the war on the Western Front and was being prepared to join in the Somme battle. One of the first day’s objectives of the British attack on 1 July 1916 was the capture of the village of Beaucourt just to the west of the River Ancre. It was finally taken on 14 November by the men of the RND. This was the first major operation by the RND in France and established a reputation for being a “Can Do” Division. However, the casualty list was very long and over 30 local men were killed and countless more wounded. Alexander Duncan was listed as missing but no further information came forward and his body was never found so he was reported as killed in action. This was the worst ever day for Dundee’s Naval forces in the First World War. Alexander Duncan is named on the Thiepval Memorial in Northern France.

Iain Stewart and Iain Birnie