Cause of death for Private John Allan

[LMChapman]

Hello,

If he did only serve at home, that is a mystery. 

You could try posting your query at https://www.greatwarforum.org/  , there will be people there with expertise on the Lovat Scouts, use of gas and home service, so maybe they can shed more light.

Best wishes

Rockford

I do already have a thread open on Great War Forum, just looking for as many perspectives as possible!

[LMChapman]

To receive an Army pension it had to be proved the disability that led to discharge
was "war attributed".
As he did receive a pension you can safely assume the Army did regard it as such.
Poison gas was first used by the Germans in April 1915.
Following this the Army quickly set up "gas schools" for the men at the front &
also included it in basic training in the UK so by Dec. 1915 gas training would
have been well established.
As he didn't see overseas service his exposure to gas must have occurred during this period.
You might be surprised at the number of men who received disabling injuries during training.

Thanks, do you know of any books/sources that describe gas training?