Captain David Livingstone Strachan of the West Yorkshire Regiment died on 29 December 1916.  He was 27 years old.  Before the war he worked as a librarian in the Central Library in Leeds and is the only Leeds librarian to die in the war.  Strachan was born on 24 March 1889 in Sheepscar, Leeds, to Scottish parents.  He was one of the first Scouts in Leeds, founding the 4th North East Leeds Caledonians.  When war was declared, Strachan joined the West Yorkshire Regiment (1/6th  battalion).  He was commissioned in June 1915 and promoted to captain in July 1916.  The battalion travelled to France in 1916 and took part in the Battle of the Somme.  Strachan was invalided home in late 1916 and died of meningitis at the 2nd Northern General Hospital at Beckett Park, Leeds.  On 2 January 1917, there was a military funeral at Lawnswood Cemetery. The grave is next to the War Graves enclosure where Strachan’s name is carved on the memorial.  Strachan is formally  remembered by Clan Strachan and on the Leeds and Scouts Rolls of Honour, the Scottish National War Memorial and the Library Association memorial at the British Library in London.  After his death his Scout troop changed their name to Strachan’s Caledonians.

Val Hewson