This morning I attended the Remembrance Sunday service at Comrie War Memorial. Erected in 1921, the memorial sits in a quite garden at the head of Dalginross, the main southern thoroughfare through Comrie.
Private Peter McArthur is commemorated on the war memorial. He lies in Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, Boulogne Sur Mer, France. Besides the war memorial, the familial headstone in Comrie’s South Crieff Road Old Cemetery bears his name.
Peter died from Spanish flu on January 23rd 1919 at the 3rd Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne Sur Mer aged thirty-seven.
A native of Comrie, Peter was born on October 9th 1881, eldest child of physician Alexander and Eliza (nee Menzies). His father died of pneumonia when Peter was only three. The McArthur family resided in Burrell Street on the western side of Comrie. By 1901 they had relocated across the River Earn to The Ross. Peter initially worked as a tailor before changing careers to work as an agent for the Prudential Assurance Company. A McGregor, author of ‘The Parish of Comrie’s Part in the Great War 1914-1918’ published in 1921 describes Peter as being of “a happy and cheerful disposition… well liked and esteemed by the whole community”. Peter was a keen sportsman, serving as secretary of Comrie Football Club and the Angling Club. Either voluntarily of through conscription, Peter joined the Black Watch in March 1916, where he initially served a home. He later transferred to the 14th division of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. After the Armistice, Peter traveled to the front line to assist with demobilisation. It was during this undertaking that he contracted Spanish flu.
Broken Columns 