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L/Cpl. John Gibb Archibald
British Army 7th Btn. Black Watch
from:Leslie, Fife
L/Cpl. John Gibb Archibald of the 7th Battalion, Royal Highland Regiment, was from Leslie, Fife. His father was a skilled marksman and won medals in the Scottish Twenty Club. This love and skill of shooting was passed to John, who represented Scotland at Bisley and also won Scottish Twenty Club medals. In order to pay for the ammunition and transport to the events John joined the Royal Highland Regiment (Black Watch) as a Territorial.
Upon declaration of war the Black Watch was mobilized, but not the Territorial Battalion. John declined to serve in the regular units. Based on his previous experience he was made a Lance Corporal (he refused any high rank since he did not want to be responsible for other soldiers' lives), and was a marksman/sniper. In early 1915 the Territorial 7th Battalion was mobilized and sent to training camps in Perth and Ayr, before being sent to Bedford for two weeks training prior to embarkation to France in May 1915.
John was in the line from May 1915 until an unknown time in 1915 (his service record was destroyed during bombing of the National Archive at Kew in WWII). He only ever recounted one story about sniping while in France - shooting a German officer one morning while shaving.
In 1915 he was invalided out of the army due to an enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) and told to go home, do light work (if any), and prepare to die. He finally passed away in 1970. The memory of taking other men's lives haunted him.
