More about James Fyffe Langlands

James served from 2nd November 1915 until being demobbed 1st September 1919. Whilst serving he was wounded at Arras 18 June 1918, when he received a gun shot wound from a snipers bullet which severed an artery in his knee. A Canadian surgeon saved his leg whilst still in the field by inserting a silver tube into his artery. Following this wound he was sent to Blackpool to recover and convalesce.

James initially served with the 3rd Battalion Cameron Highlanders, 30763, before being transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. My grandfather returned to his job as ledger’s clerk on the Dundee and Arbroath Joint Railway and then took part in the General Strike in the 1926. It was a hard time for the family as he was unemployed for over 2 years. He had married my grandmother, Mary Shepherd and had 2 children, Margaret who worked for the First American and Camperdown Trust Company and John who became a GP in Dundee. My grandmother continued to work as a Confectioner’s packer and examiner at Lindsay and Low, Carolina Port despite chronic bronchitis contracted after having the flu of 1919. She also suffered from copper poisoning in her legs through working on tarpaulin stitching for J.L Inglis during the War.  James eventually got a job as a temporary clerk in the Employment Exchange and worked there until he retired. His experiences during the War affected him and his family all his life.