Knowles, John Forbes
Rank: Private,
Regiment: 4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders
Biography: Son of George Knowles, Aberdeen ; born Aberdeen, 26 February 1891 ; educated at the Grammar School; graduated M. A., 1912 ; entered the U.F. College in the same year and continued his studies there till the outbreak of War. In October 1914 he rejoined "U" Company, 4th Gordon Highlanders, in which he had served in his student days. Though his health was not robust, Knowles stuck to soldiering and had just rejoined the Battalion from hospital the day before his death. He was the first of the U.F. College students to enlist and the first to fall, being killed by a sniper's bullet in the neighbourhood of Ypres on 5 May 1915. His genial sunny temperament made Knowles a favourite with his fellow-students. His exceptional gifts as an elocutionist, combined with his scholarship, pointed to a distinguished career as a preacher. He was an active and successful worker in the Mission carried on by the U.F. students in the East end of Aberdeen.
Date of Death: 05 May 1915
Burial Details: Buried at Wytschaete Military Cemetery, Plot 4, Row D, Grave 1.
Publication: Roll of Service, edited by Mabel Desborough Allardyce. Published 1921.
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