If John hadn't died in battle I would not be here today

STANDING before the simple headstone and surrounded by so many memorials to those who had fallen, Morris McBrierty found himself overwhelmed with emotion.

He had come to France to visit the final resting place of soldier John Sinclair, who was killed there in action in 1916.

As he stood in quiet contemplation, he considered for a moment what might have been had the 29-year-old not been lost.

There was one thought that Morris could not escape, his very existence was inextricably linked to the death of this young man.

Before leaving his life as an Edinburgh steel worker and going to war with the 6th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, John Sinclair had married Morris' grandmother Catherine.

Seven years after John's death, Catherine married again, this time to Morris' grandfather, Michael McBrierty.

"Perhaps if he hadn't died, my grandmother would not have remarried and my dad would not have been born and neither would I," says Morris. "It was kind of strange standing there thinking if he wasn't lying there we might not be here."

Self-employed Morris, 42, of Leith, remains deeply moved by his family history, which he has been researching for more than a decade.

Today he intends to view Pte John Sinclair's entry in the Leith roll of honour. He hopes it may give him a clue as to how John perished on May 28, 1916, and came to rest at the Vermelles British Cemetery in northern France.

"It was a scene of heavy fighting," says Morris. "There may have been a gas attack by the Germans but I have heard people in the family say they think he was shot."

There is an added poignant twist to John and Catherine's story. After his death, Morris has been told, John's distraught and heavily pregnant widow approached his brothers to invite the Sinclair family to their baby's baptism.

Family legend suggests she went to the landmark Sinclair's pub in Abbeyhill to speak with brothers George and James Sinclair, who both played for Hearts and who fought in McCrae's Battalion during the First World War.

"Within a month of John Sinclair getting killed, his only son was born," says Morris. "The bitter part of the story is that my grandmother went to see her husband's brothers to tell them she was carrying his child.

"My grandmother was Catholic and she said they were welcome to come to the baptism, but, because of religious differences, they refused and effectively disowned her. That's the family legend, the story my dad used to tell."

Catherine's son, Johnny, was born in June 1916 and was brought up alongside Morris' father, Hugh, and his brothers James and Michael, at their home in Glover Street, Leith. A real passion for football runs through Morris' family, but while the McBrierty clan prided themselves on being die-hard Hibs supporters, Johnny was a Hearts fan.

Johnny, who died at 65, would become well-known to Evening News readers as the dog racing tipster Kennelman. The dock worker never spoke to Morris about how he felt about his father's sacrifice, but always treasured John Sinclair's war service medals, right.

These included the early 1914 Star campaign medal – commonly referred to as the Mons Star – which was awarded to those who served in France or Belgium between August 5 and November 22 1914. As well as a Victory Medal, the family also possesses his dog tags and a bronze plaque which depicts Britannia laying a wreath.

It is engraved with John's name and service number and on the disc are the words: "He died for freedom and honour."

The decision to once again open the Leith roll of honour to the public follows extensive lobbying from those behind the campaign for a Leith Museum.

The records were once on display at Leith Hospital which closed in the 1987 and since then the five volumes have been held in storage by the Lothian Health Services Archive at George Square.

Morris believes the re-opening of the books to the public at Leith Library during this week's Leith Festival will mean a great deal to the relatives of those who died.

"Leith Hospital was the official war memorial for the First World War for the people of Leith so when that was closed down, it was a huge blow to the community," says Morris. "Leith is a very distinct community and I think something like this is great and will go towards strengthening that community."

The sacrifice that John Sinclair made continues to touch an emotional nerve with Morris who also believes that efforts need to continue to ensure that the war dead are never forgotten.

"I think it's important to remember," he says, his voice breaking. "I think I've got more reason than most to remember."

'JOHN ALWAYS SAID HE DIDN'T EXPECT HIS WIFE WOULD BURY HIM, HE WOULD BE LOST AT SEA'

WHEN merchant sailor John Eadie volunteered his services to the Royal Navy, his wife Sophia was sick with worry.

The couple, who lived in Newhaven, had three young children to look after but John felt so strongly about supporting his country's war effort that he signed up without at first telling Sophia.

"He ran away to sea as a boy and had always worked at sea," says his granddaughter Sophia Abrahamsen. "The sad thing is that he always said he didn't expect his wife would bury him, he would be lost at sea." So John left Sophia and his three children behind and joined the Royal Navy's minesweeping force aboard the HMS Commandant.

It was near Lowestoft on April 2, 1916 that the vessel hit a mine and sank. John's body was never recovered.

"My mother said she was out playing when she saw two people in naval uniform. One was a chaplain and she realised then that something was wrong. She was 12 years old," says Ms Abrahamsen. The loss of John at the age of 38 had a devastating effect on his wife, who was forced to take up manual work to survive. Just four years later, also aged 38, she passed away, leaving her young children John and Agnes in the care of their uncle.

Ms Abrahamsen's mother, known as Chattie, was just 16 and was forced to work as a fish filleter. Chattie blamed her mother's death on the hard factory work she was forced to do to survive.

"I suppose John must have wanted to do something for his country but I know my mother felt bitter about it afterwards," says Ms Abrahamsen.

Chattie died in 1991 aged 87 and Ms Abrahamsen believes if her mother had been alive she would have been delighted her father had received a mention in the roll of honour.

"She would have been really pleased his name was listed. It's just a shame she isn't here to see it for herself."