Alexander McCurdie (7 January 1895 – 24 April 1917) was a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

in the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...

for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Personal life

McCurdie attended

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. In May 1915, 9 months after Britain's entry into the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, McCurdie enlisted in the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

. He arrived on the Western Front in June 1916 and saw action at the

Battle of the Ancre The Battle of the Ancre was fought by the British Fifth Army (Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the las ...

five months later. By April 1917, he had been promoted to acting lance-sergeant and had been recommended for the DCM. McCurdie was killed while on patrol in Beaucamps,

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

on 24 April 1917 and he was buried in Fifteen Ravine British Cemetery,

Villers-Plouich Villers-Plouich () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France, situated 14 km south-west of the town of Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord ...

Career statistics

References

Scottish men's footballers 1917 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I 1895 births Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers Scottish Football League players Kilmarnock F.C. players Footballers from East Ayrshire Men's association football forwards Alumni of the University of Glasgow Reading F.C. wartime guest players Glasgow University F.C. players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-forward-1890s-stub