D
Peter DEWAR (Royal Scots Fusiliers, 5th Btn)
Private 241915
Born 21 May 1878, Glasgow; Died 5 Jan 1968, Canada
Served in France and Palestine; it was reported in Feb 1918 that he had been rescued after the transport on which he was travelling to Alexandria was torpedoed by enemy submarine.
He married Mary Pender White Kelly in Coatbridge in 1903, and they had three children. The family lived at Allanbank from 1915 to 1924, when they emigrated to Canada. He was an evangelist, and in 1927 the family travelled to Australia where both Peter and his son John had been appointed to churches in Adelaide; they returned to Canada in 1928.
Alexander Middleton DOBBIE (Royal Highlanders, 6th Btn)
2nd Lieutenant
Born Jun 1898, Bangor; Died 13 Apr 1918, France
Enlisted Dec 1916; gazetted Apr 1917; first saw action in France in Aug 1917. He was badly wounded in the leg on 11 Apr 1918, and the limb had to be amputated. It was thought he might recover, but he succumbed to his injuries at No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station two days later, aged 19. He is buried in Pernes British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
He was the son of Sir James and Lady Dobbie of Fairlie Cottage who, in 1919, commissioned a stained glass window to be installed in Fairlie Parish Church in his memory.
Duncan DOUGLAS (Royal Army Service Corps)
Corporal S/3195
Born 29 Jun 1887, Fairlie; Died 28 Jul 1944, New Cumnock
Served in France from Oct 1914; awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in Nov 1916; served with the North Russian Relief Force in 1919. In a letter home in Sep 1915, he reminisced about grouse shooting on the Kelburn moors, comparing the grouse to the Germans flying overhead. He also noted that on his last visit home “there was a vast difference in the number of male people from former years”.
He lived at Kelburn North Lodge. He was employed as a gardener in 1911 and a clerk in 1944, and he remained unmarried. He is the brother of Robert and William Douglas.
Robert DOUGLAS (Royal Army Service Corps)
Sergeant S4/145592
Born 5 Mar 1883, Fairlie; Died 28 Dec 1937, Fairlie
Enlisted Nov 1915 (occupation given as clerk); promoted to Sergeant Jan 1917; served with F Supply Coy. His pension record includes an award for chronic bronchitis and heart disease.
He lived at Kelburn North Lodge, and in the 1911 Census, and his marriage and death extracts, he is a gardener. He married Johanna Jobling in Penicuik in 1911. He is the brother of Duncan and William Douglas.
William Jones Armstrong DOUGLAS (S.R.)
Born 8 Jun 1879, Fairlie; Died 21 Jul 1938, Alloway
He lived at Mid Row in 1881, but wasn’t with the rest of the family at Kelburn in 1891. In 1901 he was a railway clerk in Dalbeattie; in 1911 a law clerk in Ayr; and in 1938 a fruit farm accountant in Ayr. He married Colinea Smith in Ayr in 1909. He is the brother of Duncan and Robert Douglas.
Hugh Kirkwood DUNLOP (Royal Garrison Artillery)
Gunner Bute MB 2388 & Ross MB 5002
Born 30 Jan 1886, Fairlie ; Died 1966, Irvine
Embodied Bute Mountain Battery Aug 1914, but discharged medically unfit Nov 1914. Attested Ross Mountain Battery Dec 1914; promoted Sergeant Apr 1915. Tried at District Court Martial for stealing money Jan 1916, reduced to ranks and imprisoned for six months. Transferred Class W (civil employment) to Ardrossan Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co. Oct 1917.
He lived at Arran View, and worked as a ship’s carpenter. He married Agnes Hamilton Macrae in Largs in 1910.