Sharp, John D

Person

Sharp, John D

John McKay Dunlop Sharp was born in Barrhead on the 11th of November 1891, one of four children of Jessie Sharp (née McKay) and James Sharp, an engineer's clerk. Sharp lived at Crossmill farm which was demolished in the late twentieth century to make way for private housing. Sharp attended The Glasgow School of Art from 1910 to 1912 as a part time student of architecture and from 1912 to 1914 as a part time student of drawing and painting. During the First World War, Sharp served as a Sergeant in the Cameron Highlanders 5th battalion. This battalion was formed in August 1914 and landed in Boulogne on the 10th of May 1915. It appears that Sharp could have been part of a Pals Battalion as he attended GSA on the same course and semesters as students such as James Tod, who also fought in this battalion. Sharp was killed in action on the 3rd of May 1917 in France, aged 26. It is possible that he died in the Battle of Arras which took place between the 9the of April and the 16th of June 1916. A phase occurred between the 3rd and the 4th of May 1917 called the Battle of the Scarpe. Sharp is memorialised in Arras. Sharp is commemorated on The Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour.

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Sources: Scotland's People: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/; Ancestry: http://www.ancestry.co.uk; The National Archives: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/; Lives of the First World War: https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/3977251; Commonwealth War Graves Commission: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1638785/SHARP,%20JOHN; Gazetteer for Scotland: http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst35284.html; The Long, Long Trail: http://www.1914-1918.net/cameron.htm; http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-arras-offensive-1917-battle-of-arras/; Imperial War Museums: http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-pals-battalions-of-the-first-world-war

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