Aitken, James (1865 - 1917)

Major, Royal Army Medical Corps

Buried at Sighthill Cemetery

Commemorated at Scottish National War Memorial

James Aitken was born in Glasgow on 5th March 1865. His father, William, was a warehouseman, though he had died by the time James was a medical student. The family lived at 12 Dalhousie Street. James began his medical studies at the University of Glasgow in 1887. He had a good academic record and graduated MB, CM in 1891. After graduation he moved down to Ilford, Essex, where he was a general practitioner for many years and raised his family. He was also a member of the territorial army, and when war began in August 1914, he joined the RAMC. He was forty-nine.

Major Aitken served both at home and in France, but he did not survive the war. He died on the 29th of July 1917 at the Yorkhill Military Hospital in Glasgow, where he had been a member of the Medical Board. He was survived by his wife and two sons, both of whom were serving in the army. He was fifty-two. His grave is at Eastwood Cemetery, Glasgow.

Reproduced with permission from the University of Glasgow Roll of Honour: http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/ww1-intro/