More about Alexander Knight

Alexander has no known grave but is remembered on the Arras Memorial. His address is also listed as 262 King St, Broughty Ferry.

Alexander Knight   CZ/3138   Drake Bn  R.N.D.

Mrs Knight, Fort Street, Broughty Ferry, has been officially notified that her husband, P.O. Alexander Knight, R.N.D., was killed in action on 25th March.  Enlisting in January, 1915, he was wounded at Gallipoli, and was 24 years of age.  He has left a widow and one child.

Alexander Knight was the son of Mrs Mary Knight of 27 Fort Street, Broughty Ferry and was married to Mrs Agnes Knight of 262 King Street, Broughty Ferry. He was a Fisherman when, in January 1915, 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 in April. In June he was advanced to Leading Seaman so he must have displayed leadership potential. He remained there until August when he was drafted to the Drake Battalion in Gallipoli and he arrived at the Battalion in September. In December he was wounded in a hand bomb explosion which was first noted as slight. His wounds deteriorated and he was first evacuated to hospital in Alexandria, Egypt and later to the Haslar Naval Hospital at Gosport, Hampshire onboard the Hospital Ship Oxfordshire in February 1916. After several months he returned to Blandford for recuperation and was drafted to the Drake Battalion in France in September. He would have taken part in the final battle of the Somme on 13 November 1916. During 1917 the Drake Battalion took part in heavy fighting at Gavrelle, Passchendaele and Welch Ridge. Alexander Knight was listed as killed in action in March 1918 during the German offensive. His body was not recovered and his name is listed on the Arras Memorial. Three Broughty Ferry men named Alexander Knight died in the Naval Services during the First World War.