Michael Meechan

The Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 12/05/1915 and were part of the 28th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division when Michael fell at the Battle of Ypres, 28th September - 2nd October 1918. This was part of the The Final Advance in Flanders, 28th September - 11th November 1918 : The British Second Army and Belgian Army combine and finally break out of the Ypres salient. More ground is gained in a day that in the entire Passchendaele offensive of a year before. The offensive continues through fighting in the Courtrai area and eventually well across the Scheldt. Tyne Cot Memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of TYNE COT CEMETERY, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station. The original battlefield cemetery of 343 graves was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when remains were brought in from the battlefields of Passchendaele and Langemarck, and from a few small burial grounds. It is now the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world in terms of burials. At the suggestion of King George V, who visited the cemetery in 1922, the Cross of Sacrifice was placed on the original large pill-box. There are three other pill-boxes in the cemetery. There are now 11,961 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in Tyne Cot Cemetery, 8,373 of these are unidentified. See photos for Michael's Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Tyne Cot Memorial Panel List, Michael's Pension Records x 3, his name on the Tyne Cot Memorial x 2, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Cap Badge and an aerial view of Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial.