John S,

He's not recorded in the 1939 register which didn't include Scotland.

Probably still in Scotland.

I've now got his army servivce number, so I might be able to make progress.

Thanks fopr your suggestion.

John

John M
“Why was he in Sheffield”
William Hughes McKnight was born in early 1922 in south Glasgow. Therefore he will have been called up in early to mid 1940 and presumably went to one of the many Scottish training camps. After training and regimental assignment he could have gone to North Africa in 1942 and/or Italy in 1943. It is clear that wherever he was, he developed Hodgkins Lymphoma and became very ill, presumably with visible tumours. Inevitably he would be hospitalised in UK by the army from whom he would be discharged following diagnosis. Presumably he was sent to the war hospital in Sheffield where he would receive radiotherapy treatment at the leading radiotherapy research facility of Sheffield Radium centre.
In those early days for radiotherapy it would turn out to be palliative treatment, extending his life by a few months at best.
You can find all this info by googling “what would happen to a soldier who developed cancer in WW2” and “Sheffield Radium Centre in 1940s”
Happy reading
Dave

Dave T,

Interesting reading.

If the horrible illness that caused his death can be attributed to his army service, I think he should have a "commission headstone."

Even though discharged it was not unusual to have such a headstone, if a soldier died from injuries or a death caused by war service.



John

Cancer does not happen quickly after some sort of event.. He was only in the war for 3 years before he became sick with it.
He was discharged, therefore the army clearly said that his problem was not war related.Therefore there will not be an army based headstone
You should order his army record. That will tell you everything including dates and places..
Dave

Not what you seek, but he or a namesake is acknowledged here:
Hillington Park Parish Church WW2
https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/271846/

Thanks Terry,

I wasn't expecting that. The church recognising his death as being a war death.

The James Hughes McKnight on that memorial was his brother, who was killed in Malaya serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

Their cousin Andrew Hughes McKnight was killed when his ship was torpedoed by a U-boat off the coast of Ireland. Andrew was a merchant seaman.

I'll pop into that church and see that memorial.

John