Granton War Memorial

On the Granton War Memorial the name ‘William Macleod’ appears, followed by the letters ‘ASC’ which would indicate that he served in the Army Service Corps. Initially this gave rise to problems of identification as the only man who matched these criteria appeared to have no connection with the Edinburgh area. I am grateful to Rev Garry Ketchen for drawing my attention to a man of this name who served in the Canadian Army Service Corps and who is almost certainly the man commemorated on the Granton War Memorial.

The attestation papers for Canadian soldiers of the First World War are available on-line at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases. These show that William Macleod was born on 12th June 1895 in the State of New York, USA. They show his place of birth as Osengo, New York. There is a place called Osengo but it is located in Ontario, Canada. It is thought that the correct place of birth was probably Oswego which is in New York State on the shores of Lake Ontario.

He would appear to have been one of the many Americans who slipped across the border to join the Canadian armed forces in 1914. His parents were George A and Mary Gough MacLeod and he was a stonemason by trade. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall with grey eyes and dark brown hair. His religion was Roman Catholic.

He served throughout the war and was awarded the Military Medal. He married while serving in Europe and his connection with Granton appears to be through his wife. After the war when the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Register was set up his widow, Ann G MacLeod, was living at 4 Royston Terrace, Goldenacre. This was not in Granton Parish but is near enough to suggest that she may have belonged to Granton.