Robert appears to have been born in the Govan District of Glasgow and it’s presumed that he came to Rosewell, Midlothian to work at Whitehill Colliery located at the top end of the village.

The 7th battalion was part of the 44th Infantry Brigade and the battalion’s war diary records that from the 9th to the 17th of October 1917, they were in the trenches in the Monchy le Preux sector.

On the 14rh of October, they were tasked with carrying out raids of the immediate vicinity to gather information and materials at the point at which they struck the German Line. They were ordered not to search any further than the point of entry. Each man was armed with a rifle and two bombs. There were 2 patrols undertaking these raids and whilst crossing ‘no-mans’ land on their return, several casualties occurred.

On one of the patrols, only one man returned, with no information. All the men in both patrols volunteered for the raids. It’s not known if Robert took part in these raids, but he died on the 17th of October 1917, during this period of trench duty

Private Robert Craig is buried at Feuchy British Cemetery, which lies 5 kms east of Arras. He is also commemorated on the memorial plaque in Rosewell Memorial Hall, Midlothian

His service record didn’t survive the WW2 German bombing of London, but there are other Army records which show that Robert’s Uncle John and his Aunts’ Jane and Mary, each received a payment on the 11th of June 1918 of Robert’s monetary possessions of: £1.2s 11d; £1.2s.10d; and £1.2s.10d respectively.

On the 14th of January 1920, his Uncle John received a further £4. There is a further record of a Dependant’s Pension of 12 shillings being paid to his aunt Jessie, residing at number 12, Dale Street, Glasgow. This record states that he was in the 4th Cameron Highlanders, so perhaps that was the battalion into which he first enlisted.

His medal index card records that he was formerly Private 253396 in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.