A Port Glasgow soldier is to finally get recognition on a roll of honour

Captain John Hunter Chalmers is among 19 First World War servicemen who have been missing from a University of Glasgow Memorial.

Now, following painstaking research, all of them will be immortalised with their names carved in stone to recognise the ultimate sacrifice they made during the 1914-18 conflict.

Captain Chalmers, born on July 3 1889, was the elder son of the Town Chamberlain, also John, and Jane Chalmers.

He lived in Craighead, Port Glasgow, and was educated at Greenock Academy.

He joined the University of Glasgow in 1909 as a law student, but did not sit exams as it is believed he attended classes as an academic element of a legal apprenticeship at the time.

On June 8 1915 he joined the 9th (Territorial) Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry.

From October 1916 he served with the Expeditionary Force in France, where he gained a reputation as a distinguished leader.

He was mentioned in despatches by Sir Douglas Haig for 'gallant and distinguished service in the field'.

Captain Chalmers returned home and married his sweetheart, Mary Gladys, at Port Glasgow Parish Church in October 1917, before returning to the frontline.

In March 1918 his battalion was involved in action at Riencourt, near Bapaume, where he was fatally wounded.

He was just 29 years of age.

Captain Chalmers is buried at the New Cemetery, Route d'Albert, in Amiens.

An Officer wrote of him: "He was such a thorough good fellow, and was much liked by all in the battalion. It was partly through his work that we were able to hold up the German advance for a considerable time, so his life was not given in vain."

Captain Chalmers' name, and those of the other lost 19, will be carved alongside those of the men and women already remembered in the University Memorial Chapel.

Their families will be invited to memorial services on Remembrance Sunday, on November 11.

Researcher Katie McDonald said: "We are still piecing together the stories behind the names of the fallen and ask anyone who has any information about them and any pictures of them to get in touch."

Katie added: "Thanks to digital resources, online research, and collaborations with both local projects, such as the Scottish War Memorial Project and the Inverclyde Great War Project, and national initiatives such as the Imperial War Museum’s ‘Lives of the First World War’ project, we have been able to add more names to the Memorial Chapel."

University vice principal John Briggs said: "The stories that have been uncovered about our fallen are both inspiring and profoundly moving. We are humbled and deeply honoured to be able to commemorate their lives in this way, one hundred years after the First World War."