Born in 1899 at Woodford, son of John Donald (Assistant Secretary to General Steamship & Co. Ltd) and Helen MacIntosh. 1901: With his family at 6 Grove Crescent, South Woodford. 1911: With his family at “Hawthornden”, 35 Mornington Road, Woodford Wells. An Old Bancroftian, he played a prominent role in the Scout Movement. He enlisted at Romford, being assigned initially to the Bedfordshire Regiment, before being moved to 10 Essex.
Thursday 8th August 1918 was the first day of the Battle of Amiens, which was intended to retake the Amiens Salient from German occupation.
10 Essex were to reach the road between the village of Morlancourt and Malard Wood which they did, but at a cost of 200 casualties. They then advanced further for over a mile, capturing four gun batteries and crews; but enemy fire was increasing, as were casualties, and the expected support from tanks did not appear. Concentrated fire from machine guns caused 10 Essex to retire at 09.00 after disabling the guns, returning to positions they had captured earlier near the Morlancourt Road.
German counter attacks during the afternoon were successfully repelled. Though not all their gains had been secured, 10 Essex had captured the high ground by the Bray-Corbie Road, which permitted an advance to the south.
During this period of ferocious fighting, Donald MacIntosh was Killed in Action.
Research by Adrian Lee, Local Historian
Sources:
Ancestry.com
Regimental History
For more information on this individual please see The Old Bancroftian website.