He was a sergeant in the 17th Battalion (Glasgow Commercials), The Highland Light Infantry, British Army during the Battle of the Somme in First World War. Later in the day he was killed while engaged in a bombing counter-attack. He was 32 years old.
On 1 July 1916, Turnbull was awarded the Venture capital for his actions at Leipzig Salient, Authuille, France, where Turnbull"s party captured a post of apparent importance, and defended it "almost single-handed".
Before World War I, he played rugby for Cartha Queens Park Reconstruction Finance Corporation and was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers.
