Leading Seaman DONALD MACPHAIL
Last address in Lewis: 24 North Bragar,
Son of John and Bella Campbell MacPhail, of North Bragar
Husband of E. MacPhail, of 24, North Bragar, Stornoway.
Service unit: Royal Naval Reserve, HMS Otway
Service number: 1623C
Date of birth: 20 April 1876
Date of death: 23 July 1917 at the age of 42
Ship sunk by U-boat
Memorial: Chatham Naval Memorial, panel 26
Local memorial: West Side, Bragar
Decoration(s):1915 Star
Left a widow and six children.
Donald appears in the 1881 census, aged 6, the son of John (47) and Isabella (40), and brother of John (and Murdo (9).
His brother John also served in the RNR, and survived the war.
Stornoway Gazette
The village of Bragar has had to pay its toll for the loss of the Otway. We very much regret to announce that Donald Macphail, 24 North Bragar, was one of the ten killed by the explosion. Macphail was one of the most powerful men in Lewis, standing over six feet in height and built in proportion. He was a very intelligent man, and of a quiet and peaceable nature. He had been gone only a few weeks from home, having had a short leave to attend his mother's funeral. Much sympathy is felt for his widow and family of young children, and also for his sister.
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