I NEVER realised until fairly recently that my grandmother's four brothers were all participants in WW1... and all returned from their National Service relatively unscathed. Considering the scale of the casualties, this was a minor miracle.

As a small tribute to those four lads, on the following pages is just a little of each of their stories...

ARTHUR GEORGE SHIRRON

Arthur, the eldest of the family, was born on March 23rd 1885 at 20 Dee Street, Aberdeen.

A tinsmith, he moved to Peterhead in 1910 to work at the Preserved Provision Works of Ritchie and Co (later Crosse & Blackwell). He married Kate Fleming Ritchie and they had 10 children - Annie, Kate, Jessie, Arthur, Madge, Hugh, Caroline, Joseph, James and John.

He enlisted with the Gordon Highlanders on the 23rd January 1915 at Peterhead - Private 2976, 5th Gordon Highlanders, D Coy, British Expeditionary Force.

He was wounded in July 1916 at High Wood in the Battle of the Somme. He was shot in the left arm which caused paralysis in his hand. Although his hand was successfully operated on in Edinburgh War Memorial Hospital in July 1917, he was not able to straighten his fingers. He was discharged on medical grounds in February 1918.

He returned to work, eventually retiring at around 70 years of age

Arthur passed away in 1964 and was 78 years old.

• Thanks to Arthur's family for the photos and information.

Top - Arthur in Gordon Highlanders uniform.

Below - Arthur (left) with his younger brother Fitzgerald.

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