Joseph Douglas Graham        Age 30

Regimental no. SE/4278        Private         16 Veterinary Hospital

                                                                        Army Veterinary Corps. 

Died                                                                30 August 1916

Buried                                                            Cairo War Cemetery, Egypt

 

Personal Background

Joseph was the son of a police constable, John Graham, of 57 Esdkdaill Street, Langholm.  He had three siblings,  Jane, John and Agnes.  Their mother died when he was quite young, as the 1901 Census shows his father as a widower.  Joseph was employed for a time as a farm servant in Canonbie.

What brought Joseph to the Borders is a matter of guesswork, though it is likely to have been employment, but we do know that he married a Mary Braid, from Tweedbank, Melrose, in 1907.  The 1911 Census shows him living near Caddonfoot, and working as a carter for the Council.  At that time he and his wife had one little girl of their own, aged 3, plus an adopted daughter aged 5.

When war broke out in 1914 the family were living at Bank House, St. Boswells. Their son William was born in September that year and sadly those children, like so many others, lost their father in the conflict.

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Military Background

Joseph enlisted in the Army Veterinary Corps in Galashiels - probably due to his experience working with horses on farms and as a carter - and was subsequently posted to Egypt on 16 March 1915. 

The war diary for his Corps on the date of his death states: "One man admitted to hospital at Heliopolis".  This was Private Graham who was suffering from appendicitis.  The appendix ruptured and he died at Nasrah Hospital, Cairo, from peritonitis. 

He was awarded the 1915 Star, Victory and British War medals.