Research has shown Alexander was a prisoner of war.

Extract from email from Derek Bird.

'He did indeed die whilst a PoW and was buried in or near the camp at Pila (formerly Schneidemuhl) in East Prussia (now part of Poland).  It would appear he and 17 others were buried amongst men of other nationalities and post war the exact location of individual graves could not be ascertained.  A decision was taken to concentrate all the graves of those who died in that part of Poland at the Old Polzan Garrison cemetery.  As the 18 from Pila could not be located exactly they were commemorated by a stone explaining the story in the middle of a row of headstones with their names on.  Some of the others are recorded as dyding of wounds, illness, such as typhus, but Alex. Ross' entry does not give a cause of death.

The most likely circumstances of his capture goes back to the end of October 1914 when the 1st Scots Guards were east of Ypres at Kruisek and Gheluvelt, during the first Battle of Ypres, where they were stemming the German advance and lost some 400 officers and men between 27-29th October at Kruisek and the remnants of the battalion were still in line and in action at Ghuluvelt in the following days, where they suffered more casualties.  Perhaps he was wounded, captured and subsequently died from them or he may well have died of illness as there appears to have been an outbreak of typhus in the camp.

 

 

I was not aware that they had prisoner of war camps during world war 1.

 

Aleta Shaw