626 William Arbuthnott. Attested for The Black Watch, Dundee, 6/6/1906, aged 18 years 7 months. Died of disease, 15/10/1917.
Depot Roll Book, 1905-14 BWRA 0496.
He would have done his basic training at The Black Watch Depot, Queen’s Barracks, Perth. After this he would probably have been sent with a detachment to the 1^st Battalion (the Home Battalion), then serving in Limerick. At some point he would appear to have gone, again with a detachment, to the 2^nd Battalion (the Foreign Service Battalion) in India. I am unable to give a precise date for this. The 2^nd Battalion was stationed in various places in India (Sialkot, Dec 1907; Delhi Nov-Dec 1911; Calcutta, Jan 1912; Bareilly, Jan 1914).
With the outbreak of the First World War the Battalion came to France as part of the Bareilly Brigade, Meerut Division, arriving on 12^th October. 1914 was spent in trench warfare.
The principal Actions and Operations were:- 1915   Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 10^th-13^th March; Battle of Aubers Ridge, 9^th May; Battle of Loos, 25^th September.
The Battalion left France on 5^th December bound for Mesopotamia.
1916  Action of Shaik Sa’ad, 7^th January; Action of the Wadi, 13^th –14^th January; First Attack on Hanna, 21^st January; First Attack on Sannaiyat, 6^th April; Second Attack on Sannaiyat, 21^st – 22^nd April;
1917  Battle of Kut, 17^th – 24^th February; Pursuit and Occupation of Baghdad, 14^th February – 11^th March; Action of Mushaidie, 14^th March; Action of Istabulat, 21^st – 24^th April. Disease was a common thing. Sgt Arbuthnott was invalided out of Mesopotamia and sent to India, where he died on 15^th October 1917 and is buried at Simla Cemetery. A History of The Black Watch in the Great War Ed A G Wauchope.   London: Medici Society, 1925-26.
VVol I (Regular Army) gives a detailed account of the Battalion’s actions. A copy should be obtainable from the local library via Inter-Library loan.
A report of his death may be in contemporary local newspapers, eg The Dundee Advertiser or The Dundee Courier & Argus. Check the 1901 Census Returns or search for a birth certificate. Try www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk