{"id":5848,"date":"2025-03-24T13:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T13:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/?p=5848"},"modified":"2025-03-24T13:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T13:14:09","slug":"geddes-j-captain-16th-canadian-infantry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/2025\/03\/24\/geddes-j-captain-16th-canadian-infantry\/","title":{"rendered":"Geddes J Captain 16th Canadian Infantry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Geddes J Captain 16th Canadian Infantry<\/p><\/div>\n

CAPTAIN J. GEDDES<\/p>\n

79TH CAMERON HIGHLANDERS, 16TH BATTALION CANADIAN CONTINGENT<\/p>\n

JOHN GEDDES was the elder son of Alexander and Frances R. Geddes, of Blairmore, Aberdeenshire, and nephew of Sir William Geddes, Principal of Aberdeen University.<\/p>\n

He entered the School in 1893. He was in the XV in 1895-96. On leaving School he went to America, followed a mercantile career, and was in business, first in Chicago, and later in Winnipeg, where he served for seven years in the 79th Cameron Highlanders, a Regiment allied with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders.<\/p>\n

A friend in Canada said that, on the outbreak of War, “he was one of the very first Officers of the 79th to volunteer. If they have any use for me, I am ready, he said; and for the rest of his life he was a soldier.” He came over to England with the First Canadian Contingent.<\/p>\n

He fell, under machine-gun fire, at Langemarke, in Flanders, on April 23rd, 1915, leading his men in the famous Canadian charge, made necessary by the retirement of the French, when the Germans first used asphyxiating gas. Age 37.<\/p>\n

A School-fellow wrote:-<\/p>\n

“He was an absolutely fearless man. At School he never knew what fear was, and his one idea was to do things in a way to bring credit to his House. I have talked to several men who were at School with him, and we always remarked on his pluck, because it had stuck in our memories.”<\/p>\n

A friend in Canada said:-<\/p>\n

“John Geddes was one of the excellent of this earth a good citizen, a brave soldier, and a loyal friend.”<\/p>\n

An Officer of his Company wrote:-<\/p>\n

“Even after he was hit, and while dying, he kept crawling onwards, calling, ‘Go on, boys, you’ll win, you’ll win!’ He was a true born Highland gentleman; every single man in the Regiment felt that, and his death is indeed a heavy blow.”<\/p>\n

He married, in 1907, Helen, daughter of Marshall Tillie, D.L., of Duncreggan, Londonderry, and left two sons and one daughter.<\/p>\n

His only brother, Second Lieutenant A. F. Geddes (O.R.), was killed in action on June 16th, 1915.<\/p>\n

Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAPTAIN J. GEDDES 79TH CAMERON HIGHLANDERS, 16TH BATTALION CANADIAN CONTINGENT JOHN GEDDES was the elder son of Alexander and Frances R. Geddes, of Blairmore, Aberdeenshire, and nephew of Sir William Geddes, Principal of Aberdeen University. He entered the School in 1893. He was in the XV in 1895-96. On leaving School he went to America, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-canadian-expeditionary-force"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5851,"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5848\/revisions\/5851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww1photos.com\/firstworldwarsoldiers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}