9367 Pte Joseph Quinn, 2nd King's Own Scottish Borderers

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Arrived Overseas: 17 September 1914.

Connection: Phyllis Robinson autograph album.

Little could Phyllis Robinson have imagined, when she wrote her name and date in a small autograph album in 1914, that before the end of the year was out, the pages would be filled with the names of captured German soldiers, wounded Belgians, and convalescing British soldiers. Her name and the date - 5th July 1914 - are written on the inside front cover, but there is nothing eles to identify her. She was unmarried - one entry reads, "Phyllis Robinson is your name / Single is your station...") and was possibly a VAD nurse, one of several with her name. 

Thirteen of the identifiable British soldiers in her album set foot ashore in France in 1914 and so I was delighted to win this at auction a couple of years ago. 

In common with many of the men, 9367 Pte Joseph Quinn of the 2nd Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers, simply recorded his name, rank, regimental number and regiment. He'd arrived overseas on the 17th September 1914 but had been in the army since October 1905. He was certainly wounded in 1914 and he would be discharged from the army as no longer physically fit, on the 10th May 1915. There is no suriving service record for this man.

Medal Index Card image courtesy Ancestry and the WFA.

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