CUMMING, Alex

Alexander Cumming was born in Canongate, Edinburgh. I n 1914 he was living in Bridle Road, Wollaston, Stourbridge, and was probably employed as a manager in the local glass industry. He volunteered for the Black Watch and served in the 8th Battalion in the 9th (Scottish) Division. He was present when they arrived on the Western Front on the 20th September 1915 and was in action in the Battle of Loos which started on the 25th September. They were regarded as one of the finest Divisions in the British army and consequently fought in all the main phases of the 1916 Battle of the Somme and in the main attacks of the April 1917 Battle of Arras. In October 1917 they were again in the front line and fought in the Third Battle of Ypres at Poelcapelle. Private Alex Cumming died of wounds on the 12th October and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot, Stourbridge and Wollaston Memorials.