PRIVATE WILLAIM OGSTON CRAIB
AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY
6TH AUGUST 1916 AGE 28
BURIED: PUCHEVILLERS BRITISH CEMETERY, FRANCE
The report of William Craib's death in the Aberdeen Evening Express refes to both his parents so it's interesting that the inscription only refers to his mother. However, the privileging of mothers' grief is something that is noticeable in a number of personal inscriptions.
In a sense, Mrs Mary Craib had already lost her son once. Born in Aberdeen, William Craib left school, worked in the docks and then went to Canada, to work on the Grand Trunk Railway. In 1913 he went to Australia and when he enlisted in April 1915 he was working at the Brisbane gasworks. Craib sailed for Egypt in May, served in Gallipoli from September to December and was then transferred with the 26th Battalion to the Western Front, arriving in France in March 1916. Between 28 July to 7 August the 26th Battalion took part in the battle of Pozieres; Craib died of wounds in a Casualty Clearing Station in Puchevillers on the 6th.
Three months earlier the Craigs had finally learnt that their eldest son, George, missing in action since the 25 September, was dead, killed at the battle of Loos. George's body was never found so he has neither grave nor inscription.