- See Edward McCormick’s entry on the Board of Trade’s Ancestry public tree.
- This information updates the group’s previous research published on the former DTI website (now archived by the National Archives).
- Do you have any more information about Edward McCormick? If so the War Memorial Research Group would love to hear from you
Name recorded on Board of Trade Memorial: E. F. McCormick
Born: About 1895, Aberdeen, Scotland
Date of Death: 1 November 1918
Age at death: 23
Service, Regiment, Corps, etc: Gordon Highlanders
Unit, Ship, etc: “F” Company, 4th Battalion and previously 3rd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders
Enlisted:
Rank: Second Lieutenant (Service No: S/11993)
Decorations: WW1 Service Medals (Victory Medal and British War Medal)
War (and theatre): WW1 (France and Flanders)
Manner of Death: Killed in Action (KIA)
Family Details: Husband of Moira R McCormack, 223 Union Grove, Aberdeen
Residence:
Home Department: Board of Trade – Mercantile Marine Office Staff, Aberdeen
Civilian Rank: Assistant Clerk
Cemetery or Memorial: Taintignies Communal Cemetery, Hainault, Belgium (C.1); Board of Trade War Memorial; City of Aberdeen Roll of Honour; Aberdeen War Memorial; Scottish National War Memorial, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
Biography:
Edward’s name is inconsistently referred to in some places as McCormack (such as on his gravestone) and in other places as McCormick (such as on the Board of Trade War Memorial) so he has been challenging to properly identify, however we are confident that we have located accurate details about his lifestory.
Edward was born in about 1895 in Aberdeen, Scotland. His parents were John McCormick (1862-?) and Mary McAuley (1866-1941). His father was a railway porter.
He had four sisters – Elizabeth McCormick (1889-?), Ellen McCormick (1899-?), Mary McCormick (1905-1961) and Anne McCormick. He also had four brothers – Alexander McCormick (1893-?), Bernard McCormick (1894-?), John McCormick and Francis McCormick.
In the 1901 census, the McCormick family are living at 3 Dobbies Loan, Glasgow Barony, Lanarkshire.
Edward worked for the Mercantile Marine Office in Aberdeen where he was an Assistant Clerk.
We also know that Edward married Moira Margaret Robertson on 30 November 1915 in St Machar Cathedral, Aberdeen. We believe that Moira was the daughter of Robert Chisholm Robertson (1861-1930), who was a prominent Scottish labour activist. Together Edward and Moira had a young son, called Edward Chisholm Robert McCormick who was named after his father and born in 1917.
During WW1, Edward attested with the Gordon Highlanders. He was one of 50,000 men to serve with the regiment and one of 9000 men amongst that number to die.
He initially enlisted with the 3rd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders but then was subsequently a Second Lieutenant officer in the 4th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders. The 4th Battalion was a Territorial Force Battalion originally formed in 1908. The Gordon Highlanders were an territorial infantry regiment that could trace its history back to 1794. They recruited from the areas around Inverness and Aberdeen.
According to his WW1 Medal Index Card, Edward first served overseas with the 4th Battalion in France from 5 September 1918. We have not found any trace of his service overseas with the 3rd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders.
Edward was reportedly killed in action, aged 23, on 1 November 1918 on a reconnaissance mission near Ypres when he was shot by a sniper. His gravestone is one of 27 Commonwealth service men who are buried in Taintignies Communal Cemetery, near Tournai, Belgium. The cemetery was started by the 15th and 16th Divisions in October 1918 during the Advance to Victory only 10 days before the Armistice on 11 November 1918. His grave bears the personal inscription “In glory everlasting make him to be numbered with thy saints”.
Edward’s sacrifice is remembered by the Board of the Trade War Memorial and by the City of Aberdeen Roll of Honour which commemorates the names of 5070 men and women from Aberdeen and the local district. He is also remembered by the Aberdeen War Memorial.
Edward is also commemorated on the Scottish National War Memorial located at Edinburgh Castle.
Board of Trade War Memorial 