For those that are interested in the process of researching our 1st KOSB veterans, I wanted to highlight one in particular that is close to my heart.
Exhibit A:
Many years ago (most likely the 80s) I went through my Grandad's photo album with him and scrawled a couple of dates/place names on the pages. I hadn't done it with this photo so knew nothing about it. My only clue was that the piper is also in my Grandad's Wedding Photo - and I presumed he was the Best Man.
When my Grandad died 20 years ago, my Grandma gave me his photos, medals and Glengarry/KOSB badge. I kept them safe and looked at them once in a while but still none the wiser. Eventually, I posted some on Social Media (Pinterest etc.) and asked a couple of Facebook groups if they had any information - nothing. *(Even up to the point of building this site in late 2024, I still had no idea who any of the people in the top photo were - and I added it to our 'Unknown Gallery' in the hope that someone would spot something).
THEN... The illustrious Jenny asked about my Grandparent's Wedding Certificate and if I still had it. Myself and my Mum couldn't lay our hands on it so I purchased a digital copy online from Scotland's People.
One of the witnesses was a J P Adamson, living in Inverness. I couldn't be sure it was him as I knew the rest of the people in the photo and there is no Catherine McDonald in it. (So maybe just witnesses and not part of the 'Wedding' per se?).
Trail went cold and we carried on adding new details for casualties, building pages and adding new records to the ever increasing list of Wounded.... Again, Jenny worked on checking wounded lists against our originals from WIG Wilson's book and filling in the blanks. *I don't think she even realised when she sent over some new entries for June 1944 that one of them would stick out in my mind.
We finally had his service number and confirmation that a 'J P Adamson' was in Normandy (although why listed as Private is another story - Pipers are NCOs). We went back to Scotland's People and searched for his name and a marriage during War time.
Bingo! We found one - and it gave his full name as well as the Bride and the 2 witnesses. We also had the date and the town of Galashiels as the location.
It was time to fire up Ancestry and see if anybody had Piper Adamson in their family trees! We found him in 2 separate trees but both members had Australia in their biographies. I hesitated but thought it worth a shot so sent a message to both.
The next day I had a reply from a young lady in Australia saying, 'maybe, but not sure'. I sent her the photo, and a couple of the others I had of him and Grandad, and she said she would 'speak to a relative'.
The lady came back to me the next day and said she's spoken to her father-in-law (his son) and they believe it is the same person. She sent a more recent photo of James back to see if I thought same. *She also confirmed he was 'tall'.
I shared the rest of the photos I had with them and some snippets I had found online. They also confirmed that the lady on the far right of the wedding photo was James' sister.
We now had almost everything. The final 2 pieces of the puzzle were the location of the photo, and the chap in uniform on the left. (We believe his name is 'G.W. Caufield of Dalkeith' but haven't found any records online). *UPDATE: Gent on left is George Watson Caufield, born in Uphall in 1914. He was wounded in Normandy on 16 July 1944 whilst serving with the 6th Bttn KOSB. Service No. 3185873. Rank - Private.
I posted the wedding photos and the information we had to a group on Facebook called 'Bygone Galashiels' and as well as a number of people saying they remembered the family, one person posted a photo of the outside of the King's Hotel in Market Street.
If we compare the brickwork and the 'bell', you can see it is the same place, and only a 5 minute walk from the registry office listed on the Wedding certificate.
So there you have it. With the combined efforts of people in England, Scotland and Australia, online and off-line, we have managed to not only put names to faces, but also share never before seen photos with a family member - WHICH IS THE WHOLE REASON I STARTED THIS WEBSITE :-)
Thanks go again to those named above and also a special thank you to James' son, Jamie for sharing more little snippets about his Dad's life. (I consider us adopted 'family' now).
After all that, I think it's only fair that Mr Adamson has his own Special Mention page > here
Anyway, that's just a small example of some of the 'mysteries' we've come across. We have also looked at the signatures on a 50F Franc note signed the night before D-Day, as well as the case of the US Airman shot by the SS whilst parachuting from his stricken B17 bomber. More to come in the next few months but these things take time - and luck!
If you have any information on family members who served with the KOSB, or are interested in finding out more about what they did during their time in the regiment, please do get in touch. We can't always pull rabbits out of hats but we have managed to find things that have laid 'hidden' for 80 years.
Richard Grayling 26th January 2025.
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