Alexander Blackwood Gay (1901-1920)
Newcastle miner served with 3rd and 1st DLI shot accidentally and buried in Cologne
Alexander Balckwood Gay, the son of Norman and Agnes Gay, was born in Edinburgh in 1901 and he had a sister. His father died a few years after he was born and his mother re-married in 1909. He moved to South Benwell in Newcastle-upon-Tyne with his new family. He was working as a miner when he was called up on 1 July 1919 and joined the 3rd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (DLI).
He was transferred to the 1st DLI on 4 February 1920 and joined the British Army of Occupation of the Rhineland on 1 March. In August 1920 he was shot accidentally in the abdomen and died in the Cologne Casualty Clearing Station on 7 August. He is buried in the Cologne Southern Cemetery.
Civil Parish: Gateshead
Birth date: 1901
Death date: 7-Aug-1920
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 14 Delaval Terrace, South Benwell, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1911 census)
Employment: Coal miner (British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920)
Family: Father: Norman Gay
Mother: Agnes Gay (nee Blackwood, later married Robert Spoors)
Sister: Mary Gay
Military service:
3rd & 1st Battalions, Durham Light Infantry
Service No.: 103354
Private
Memorial(s): Cologne Southern Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Grave Ref.: VI.E.9
Gender: Male
Contributed by John Edwards
