Young, Fergus Hay (1886 - 1915)

Lieutenant, Royal Army Medical Corps

Buried at Kirechkoi-Hortakoi Military Cemetery

Commemorated at City of Glasgow Roll of Honour at Glasgow City Chambers

Fergus Hay Young, born on 29th April 1887, was the youngest son of Mr. John Young, of Kirkintilloch, for many years travelling representative of Messrs. Cameron & Roberton, Ironmasters of that town.

He was educated at the High School of Glasgow, whence he proceeded to the University. He was a brilliant student in Arts, and took his MA degree before he was twenty. Thereafter he took up the medical course, and graduated MB ChB.

Before settling down to practice at home he sailed as ship's doctor several times to Canada and the States.

From an assistantship in Durham he went to the North Riding Hospital, Middlesborough, as a Resident Physician. Ill health however, forced him to resign, and he went to New Zealand. He spent one year at Leivin, near Wellington. His patients were chiefly Maoris, for whom he had an intense admiration.

In 1914 he came home to take up a practice, but war intervened, and he offered his services to the RAMC. He was commissioned in January 1915, to the 29th Divisional Ammunition Column, and on 15th April the Division left Bristol for the Dardanelles.

Though they took no part in the first landing they were under fire in May. They spent most of June in Lemnos, and then went to Alexandria, where Dr. Young's work was principally inoculation and the treatment of cases of dysentery and cholera. But he wished to get back to the fighting line and work among the wounded.

On 19th October he cabled that they were leaving Alexandria for an unknown destination. Eight days later came a letter full of joy - 'They were on the move at last, off to the nearest battlefield'. The same day the Government announced the torpedoing of the Marquette. Dr Young was not one of the ninety-nine survivors. He was got ashore, but died the same day of exhaustion at Salonika.

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