Last address in Lewis: 13 Aignish
Son of John MacKay, of 13, Aignish, Stornoway.
Service unit: Royal Naval Reserve, HMS Vivid
Service number: 3093/A
Date of birth: 20 June 1892
Date of death: 18 January 1917 at the age of 26
Died in Plymouth Hospital
Interred: Aignish / Eye cemetery, grave E. 3. 60
Local memorial: Point (Garrabost)
Murdo appears in the 1901 census for Swordale (close to Aignish), as the 9-year old son of John (36, fisherman) and Mary Mckay (34). His siblings are Duncan (5) and Christina (6 months).
Murdo served in the Royal Naval Division (Hawke Bn, A/54), between 17 September and 2 November 1914, after which he was transferred to Crystal Palace.
Stornoway Gazette
Aignish RN Reservist's Death
Quite a gloom was cast over this district when it became known that Murdo Mackay, seaman, RNR, son of Mr John Mackay, 13 Aignish, had died of pneumonia in the Naval Hospital, Plymouth. He was a promising young man and the mainstay of his father's family. He was one of the few Naval Reservists who escaped after the fall of Antwerp and who made their way mostly on foot through Holland till they arrived at a Dutch port and got a boat to England. Somehow Murdo and two Englishmen got separated from the main body when they crossed the Dutch frontier, and after wandering for several days, and when on the point of starvation, they were befriended by a farmer. The same good Samaritan provided them with clothing of the Dutch peasant type, and after a short rest they set out to tramp it to the coast. Their adventures were varied till at last they boarded a train which brought them to a coast town. There they were taken charge of by friends, who saw them on board a boat en route for England. Murdo and his English friends stuck together, and in case of accidents, they exchanged their home addresses so as to communicate with their friends. Murdo was 26 years of age, of a quiet and unassuming disposition, a trustworthy and a reliable friend, held in high esteem by all who knew him. Our sincerest sympathy goes out to his parents, brothers, and sister in their sore bereavement. His remains arrived by the mail boat on Tuesday night, and the funeral took place on Wednesday to the New Cemetery at Aignish.
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