First World War

FirstWorld

WAR

1914 -1918 100 ANNIVERSARY

SOUVENIR SPECIAL

SUPPLEMENT

FirstWorldWar


The Courier & Advertiser

2

T

he FirsT World War

changed everything. it

caused appalling suffering.

it swept away empires and

sparked revolutions. it ushered in

new, devastating and hideously cruel

forms of warfare.

Across the world, people emerged

in total shock. No longer could they

be convinced of the inevitability of

progress. No longer could they have

confidence in the innate goodness of

mankind. The world was never to be

the same again.

so terrible were battlefield

casualties, and so grave their

consequences for combatants

and their families, that the wars

repercussions continue to this day.

some argue it settled nothing.

They see the period from the 1918

Armistice to the outbreak of the

second World War in 1939 as having

been little more than a temporary,

uneasy truce. Not until the defeat

of Germany in 1945 did the world

become more stable, for a while at

least, if not necessarily safer.

There is little to be cheerful

about in considering the war and

its consequences.Yet if the war

displayed the worst of human

nature, it also brought out the very

best in some of its participants,

who undertook astonishing acts of

courage and compassion.

it prompted too,

remarkable works of art

and literature.

The war also marked

a turning point in our

treatment of Armed

Forces veterans.

The lasting

post-war annual,

national focus on

remembrance,

and equally

lasting

popular

support

for doing

something

to help

those damaged by war, has persisted

to this day. hopes that the First World

War would be the war to end all wars

were to prove short-lived, but the

scottish publics continuing terrific

support for Armed Forces charities

has remained as strong as it has

been impressive.

This has been shown each year

by the success of what is arguably

scotlands best-known fundraising

campaign, our own scottish Poppy

Appeal, which continues to attract

terrific support from people across

scotland.

This publication seeks to tell

readers in greater depth about the

war and how it affected everyone in

scotland, in all parts of society.

it may be of particular interest to

younger readers, who learn about the

war at school and whose interest in

its causes, course and consequences

show no sign of falling off.

some historians argue that we

drifted into war in 1914. some

argue we did just the same very

recently in iraq and Aghanistan.

Greater understanding of past events

may yet help us avoid doing so again

in the future.

The ultimate sacrifice

The FirsT World WAr tore the

heart out of communities across the

UK, scotland and Courier Country.

in the UK as a whole not counting

the colonial troops there were

more than 740,000 casualties, though

many argue that the figure is

higher.

of these, more than 100,000 would

have been scots.The scots gave in

such disproportionate numbers that

there wouldnt have been a

tenement, house or cottage that

wouldnt have been affected.

in this Centenary magazine, we

remember the major battles and

conflicts of the Great War the

first ever total war and the parts

played by brave men and women all

over Courier Country.

The FirsT World War, July 28

1914-November 11 1918, was

one of the deadliest conflicts in

history with the loss of more than

nine million lives, and led to major

political changes across the globe.

Also known as the Great War,

it initially involved the Allies

(the Triple entente of the United

Kingdom, France and the russian

empire) and the Central Powers of

Germany and Austria-hungary. As

the war progressed, more nations

entered the war: italy, Japan and

the United states joined the Allies,

and the Ottoman empire (Turkey)

and Bulgaria the Central Powers,

resulting in more than 70 million

The horrors of trench warfare left an indelible mark on the world.

who undertook astonishing acts of

courage and compassion.

it prompted too,

remarkable works of art

and literature.

The war also marked

a turning point in our

treatment of Armed

Forces veterans.

The lasting

post-war annual,

national focus on

remembrance,

and equally

lasting

Lest we forget

military personnel, including

60 million europeans, being

mobilised in one of the largest

wars in history.

The trigger for conflict was

the June 28 1914 assassination

of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

of Austria, heir to the throne

of Austria-hungary, by serb

nationalist Gavrilo Princip in

sarajevo. A diplomatic crisis blew

up as Austria-hungary delivered

an ultimatum to the Kingdom of

serbia, and historical international

alliances were invoked. Within

weeks the major powers were at

war and the conflict soon spread

around the world.

How thewar began

tim

eline

Foreword by Ian McGregor, CEO of Poppy Scotland

June 28, 1914

Assassination of Archduke Franz

Ferdinand of Austria by Bosnian Serb

Gavrilo Princip.

August 1, 1914

Germany declares war on Russia.

July 28, 1914

Austria-Hungary declares war on

Serbia.



FirstWorldWar

3

The BaTTle of Mons was the first

major conflict of the First World

War and the first major action of

the British expeditionary Force

(BeF). It was a subsidiary action of

the Battle of the Frontiers, in which

the allies clashed with Germany

on the French borders. at Mons,

the British army attempted to hold

the line of the Mons-Cond Canal

against the advancing German 1st

army. although the British fought

well and inflicted disproportionate

casualties on the numerically

superior Germans, they were

forced to retreat due both to the

greater strength of the Germans

and the retreat of the French Fifth

army, which exposed the British

right flank. Though initially planned

as a simple tactical withdrawal

The German attack on the Nimy Bridge at Mons.

Left and

above:

troops

enjoy a

respite

from the

carnage.

and executed in good order, the

British retreat from Mons lasted

two weeks and took the BeF to the

outskirts of Paris before it counter-

attacked in concert with the

French, at the Battle of the Marne.

Field Marshal Sir John French

wanted to withdraw his army to

the coast but this was forbidden by

lord Kitchener who insisted they

stayed in contact with the French

as they retreated to the Marne

River.

had it not been for the

phenomenal sacrifice of the British

expeditionary Force, in particular

the 1st Battalion Black Watch, the

war may well have been over by

Christmas with a very different

outcome, says Derek Patrick of the

University of Dundee.

T

he Christmas truce

when for a few hours

hostilities were laid aside

has gone down in history.

the 5th battalion (angus and

Dundee) took part in the truce

and alfred anderson, the

longest surviving Black Watch

veteran who died a few years

ago, mentions the occasion

in an interview recorded at the

Black Watch museum.

Born in Dundee in 1896,

alfred left his home at 20

Kirloch street in October 1914.

he witnessed the 1914

Christmas truce that saw

British and German soldiers

cautiously emerge from

their trenches on Christmas

Day, exchanging gifts and

handshakes in No mans Land.

the enemies even wrapped

cigarettesandtunicbuttons,sang

carols and played football amid

the mud and shellholes of no

mans land.

the informal truce spread

along much of the Western Front, in

some cases lasting for days.

i remember the silence, the eerie

The Christmas Truce

Battle of Mons

ASoldiersStory

sound of silence, he recalled, who

was billeted in a farmhouse. all id

heard for two months in the trenches

was the hissing, cracking and whining

of bullets in flight, machine gun

fire and distant German voices.

But there was a dead silence that

morning, right across the land as far

as you could see.

We shouted merry Christmas,

even though nobody felt merry.

Words by Caroline Lindsay, Nora

McElhone, Jacqueline Wake

Young and Terry MacCallum

August 3, 1914

Germany declares war on France.

August 4, 1914

United States declares neutrality.

August 4, 1914

United Kingdom declares war on

Germany.

the silence ended early in the

afternoon and the killing started again.

it was a short peace in a terrible war.

One soldier who wasnt so lucky

was Lochee man isaac stewart who

was killed in action on Christmas Day

1914 before the truce started.

The BaTTle of Mons was the first

major conflict of the First World

War and the first major action of

the British expeditionary Force

(BeF). It was a subsidiary action of

the Battle of the Frontiers, in which

the allies clashed with Germany

on the French borders. at Mons,

the British army attempted to hold

the line of the Mons-Cond Canal

against the advancing German 1st

army. although the British fought

well and inflicted disproportionate

casualties on the numerically

superior Germans, they were

forced to retreat due both to the

greater strength of the Germans

and the retreat of the French Fifth

army, which exposed the British

right flank. Though initially planned

as a simple tactical withdrawal as a simple tactical withdrawal

The German attack on the Nimy Bridge at Mons. The German attack on the Nimy Bridge at Mons.

Battle of Mons

FirstWorldWar



4

tim

eline

T

he small but strategically

important Belgian medieval

town ofYpres had already

been seized by the German

army at the very beginning of the

war as part of the race to the sea

but by early October of 1914, the

British expeditionary Force (BeF)

recaptured it.The Germans made a

major onslaught to regain the town

on October 15 and although BeF

riflemen held their positions they

suffered heavy losses.

Relentless German attacks

continued over the next month but

with the arrival of the French army

the line was held. as severe winter

weather moved in, the Germans

abandoned theYpres offensive on

November 22.

around 135,000 Germans were

killed or badly wounded while the

BeF lost around 75,000 men and

was pretty much destroyed as a

professional army.

Two more major battles were to

happen atYpres: the 2nd Battle

ofYpres (april-may, 1915) and

Passchendaele (July-October, 1917).

When the americans entered the

war in 1917 it hastened the defeat of

the Germans and the last shell fell on

Ypres on October 14 1918.

along with the Battle of the

somme, the battles atYpres and

Passchendaele will never be

forgotten.The town had been the

centre of conflicts before due to its

strategic position, but the devastation

of the town and countryside summed

up the futility of battles in the First

World War. In the area aroundYpres

more than 1,700,000 soldiers on both

sides were killed or wounded along

with an uncounted number of civilians.

Interestingly, at a place called

Wijtschate (about 10 miles south of

Ypres) a German corporal called

adolf hitler rescued a wounded

comrade and won the Iron Cross.

W

illiam manson of

the 1st Black Watch,

from Bridge of allan in

Perthshire, was captured at

Ypres in november 1914, after

being wounded in the thigh.

Here he recounts his experience

as a PoW:

I was wounded in the advance

on the 2nd November and left on

the field. The French attacked and

carried me back to a farm-house.

They were compelled to retire, and

left me with two other men in a

barn. Two days later the Germans

entered and captured me and my

comrades, a man named Garner

of my regiment, and a Frenchman.

The Germans gave me some food.

Shortly after I was picked up the

British began to shell the barn, and

I was taken out and laid on top of a

trench in the rain; they covered me

with straw. I asked to be put down

in the trench out of the rain, but

they took no notice of my request,

and I was lying there for six hours.

At night they took me back to

a field hospital behind the lines

and dressed my wounds. I have

nothing to complain of in regard of

my treatment there.

The next day they removed me

on an ambulance cart to a Belgian

nunnery, which was being

used as a hospital. I do

not know the name of

the place. The nurses

were Belgian ladies,

and I was well treated.

I remained there for one

night, and the next day was

taken by train to St Vincent

House, Paderborn,

Westphalia. The

journey occupied

about two days,

and I was

treated well

enough in

the train,

Above:

the ruins

of Ypres.

Picture:

PA.

but on the journey

my comrades

and I were

turned out

at a wayside

station and laid

on mattresses

on the platform,

and Germans

spat in our faces

and insulted us.

Convalescent Hospital,

Paderborn, May-June 1915/

Sennelager Camp Hospital, June-

July 1915/Sennelager Camp III

July 1915-March 1916 I left

St Vincent House in May 1915,

and was taken to a convalescent

hospital in the town, where I was

detained for about a fortnight.

I was well treated there, but the

quality of the food was not so good

as before. I was then removed

to another convalescent hospital

for a fortnight, and in June was

taken from there to Sennelager III

Camp, which was about four miles

outside the town.

I do not know the names of the

Commandant or any of the officers

Reminiscences

of a Scottish

prisoner of war

Battle

of Ypres

August 6, 1914

Cruiser HMS Amphion sunk by German

mines in North Sea with loss of 150

men, first British casualties of the war.

August 11, 1914

Your Country Needs You slogan is

published, calling for 100,000 men to

enlist in Kitcheners New Army.

August 7, 1914

British Expeditionary Force arrives in

France.

but on the journey

my comrades

at a wayside

station and laid

on mattresses

on the platform,

and Germans

spat in our faces

prisoner of war

a field hospital behind the lines

and dressed my wounds. I have

nothing to complain of in regard of

my treatment there.

The next day they removed me

on an ambulance cart to a Belgian

nunnery, which was being

used as a hospital. I do

not know the name of

the place. The nurses

were Belgian ladies,

and I was well treated.

I remained there for one

night, and the next day was

taken by train to St Vincent

House, Paderborn,

Westphalia. The

journey occupied

about two days,

and I was

treated well

enough in enough in

the train, the train,

Commandant or any of the officers

August 11, 1914

SoldiersStory



FirstWorldWar

5

Dundee soldiers Private

John McEwan (left) and

Private Findlay Bruce.

See story above.

T

wo DunDee soldiers

Private John Mcewan,

RAMC, 12 City Road, and

Private Findlay Bruce, 2d Royal

Scots, 2 City Road returned

from the front to recuperate from

wounds received in the fighting at

Ypres. They underwent remarkable

experiences with German spies

and snipers. one night a British

sentry challenged a man who

approached the regimental lines.

The stranger explained that he was

an orderly. of what regiment?

Spies, snipers and

stolen uniforms

demanded the watchful guard.

The Vilts, responded the man,

meaning the wiltshires. His

German pronunciation of the

english w cost him his life. He

was a German in the uniform of

the London Scottish. on another

occasion two German snipers

were discovered inside a hollow

haystack. They had beside them

rations for three months, and

uniforms of eight different British

regiments, and used noiseless

rifles and smokeless powder.

of this camp, which contained

about 4,000 men. on arrival I was

put into hospital, and told to hold

myself in readiness to proceed to

england. My leg was practically

useless, but they did not attempt

to do anything for me, and I got no

treatment whatever.

I was in the camp hospital for

about a month, and was then

quartered in a large wooden hut,

where we had to sleep feet-to-

feet on sacks filled with straw laid

on the floor. The hut was packed

as tightly as possible, Algerians,

French and British being all mixed

up indiscriminately, and it was

infested with vermin. Its length was

50 or 60 feet, and it was heated by

a stove at each end, but we were

only supplied with coal dust in

i n s u f f i c i e n t

q u a n t i t y ,

and it was

impossible

to keep

the place

warm.

washing

facilities were

very inadequate.

we were taken down by

companies once a fortnight

to get a shower bath, but only

succeeded in getting a

sprinkling of water. The

sanitary arrangements

were totally inadequate

and most offensive.

The Camp Hospital

was utterly deficient in

equipment, and there was

practically no treatment

at all, in fact, it might be

described as a farce.

There were no medicines,

bandages, and only a

student in charge, and the

remedy for every ailment

was aspirin. The food was

awful and impossible to

eat. The following is a

typical menu:

7am Coffee without

sugar or milk and a ration

of war bread about 4in

by 2in.

12am Potato and

sauerkraut no meat.

6.30pm Boiled maize or

sandstorm.

when first at the

camp I was often in a

starving condition, and,

but for a share of the

parcels received by my

comrades, I should have

starved. There was a

so-called canteen at

which one could buy

cigarettes, and, at one

time, sausages, but, later

on, there was practically

nothing to be had there.

Private William Mansons

medals (top) and tags (left).

Pictures: Derek Patrick.

August 13, 1914

The first squadrons of the Royal Flying

Corps arrive in France.

August 25, 1914

The Royal Flying Corps claim their first

kill as aircraft from 2nd Squadron

bring down a German plane.

August 23, 1914

British Expeditionary Force starts its

retreat from Mons.

FirstFirstFirst

T

Private Findlay Bruce, 2d Royal

Scots, 2 City Road returned

from the front to recuperate from

wounds received in the fighting at

Ypres. They underwent remarkable

experiences with German spies

and snipers. one night a British

sentry challenged a man who

approached the regimental lines.

The stranger explained that he was

infested with vermin. Its length was

50 or 60 feet, and it was heated by

a stove at each end, but we were

only supplied with coal dust in

i n s u f f i c i e n t

q u a n t i t y ,

and it was

impossible

to keep

the place

warm.

washing

facilities were

very inadequate.

we were taken down by

companies once a fortnight

to get a shower bath, but only

succeeded in getting a

sprinkling of water. The

sanitary arrangements

were totally inadequate

and most offensive.and most offensive.

The Camp Hospital The Camp Hospital

August 13,

SoldiersStory

FirstWorldWar



6

tim

eline

L

ance-Sergeant J. Bowman,

in a letter to his brother, Sergeant

Thomas Bowman, DCM, 35

Peter Street, gives a vivid description

of the fighting on the 9th. He says:

We took up a position in redoubts

similar to those we occupied previous

to our last engagement. At 3am

the bombardment started. As an

indication of how fierce it was I may

mention that we had 14 wounded

before we left for the front line. The

bombardment lasted for hours, and

the rattle of rifles and machine guns

during the periodic lulls told us that

hot work was in progress between

our trenches and those of the enemy.

About eleven oclock we received

orders to move forward. It was a

brilliant Sunday forenoon very

warm and we felt the heat all the

more, as we had to struggle forward

carrying heavy boxes of ammunition.

When we got into the reserve

trenches we found that the enemys

guns had played havoc there. The

sights in the old crescent trench of

Neuve Chappelle fame made some

of us sick.

For example, one traverse had

been demolished, and the occupants

(Indians) were dead, and some of

them were actually burning when

we passed. Then the survivors of the

early morning charge began to file

past. They were mostly Seaforths,

and their appearance told its own

terrible tale of what they had passed

through.

A wounded officer came past

and said to me: Is this the Bareilly

Brigade? I replied in the affirmative,

and he said: Well, lads, I hope you

have better luck than we have had.

ASoldiersStory

At this time we were experiencing

a heavy fire from the German guns,

and Dr Rogers was being kept

busy. At three oclock the word was

passed that another bombardment

was to take place at 3.30, and

another advance to be made. At the

appointedtimeourgunsstartedfiring,

but the Germans replied, shelling

our trenches, and for an hour it was

hell. Neuve Chappelle was outdone.

We were falling everywhere. How I

escaped passes my comprehension,

for I was practically in the open all the

time.

Sergeant Anderson, who used

to work on A Companys books

in Wormit, received two shrapnel

wounds in the left leg while sitting

beside me. While I was bandaging

him it simply rained shrapnel, and yet

I was not touched. He gradually sank

back into unconsciousness just as

the word came: B Company for the

front trench.

We experienced great difficulty

in getting into the firing line, as the

communication trench was being

heavily shelled, and the wounded

were being brought down in dozens.

The A Company were first in the fire

trench, and played a heroic part, for

they were just in time to join a charge

with the other battalions there.

I understand two platoons were

over the trenches, and their death toll

was very heavy. Lieutenant Weinberg

was first, and he carried the flag to

place in the enemys trench should

it be taken. He died a heros death,

falling under the rain of bullets which

the platoon had to face from the

Maxims in front. Young Donald Pyott

picked up the flag, but he also was

shot dead. His chum Jim Ross then

grasped the flag, only to meet the

same fate. Among the killed whom

A day of severe trials

At the battle of Aubers Ridge on May 9 1915, in

one company of the 4th Battalion Black Watch, Dundees

Own, a father buried his son and a son buried his father.

The father who was buried was Archie Troup, the great

grandfather of Lesley Smith of Newport-on-Tay. She has

sent us the report that appeared in The Peoples Journal

of May 22 1915

you will know are Jim Angus, Lance-

Corporal Taylor, Lance-Corporal

White, Corporal Mulligan, Sergeant

Brown, Lance-Sergeant Troup,

McAvoy, Kolroy, McInroy and Brown,

the officers servant, who used to

reside at 54 Dudhope Street. The

wounded include Sergeant-Major

Leighton, Sergeant Naismith, and

Peter Robertson.

Those who were not killed or

wounded had to remain in the open,

and many of them lay there till dark.

Lieutenants Law and McIntyre were

among the latter.

When darkness did come we

had an exciting time bringing in the

wounded. Many of the Seaforths

had lain till 5.30 in the morning. Just

as darkness was setting down a little

Gurkha sergeant suddenly appeared

on the top of our traverse trench,

carrying on his back a Seaforth

Highlander who had been wounded.

He got a cheer from the boys for his

plucky action.

Above: a

painting of

the Battle

of Aubers

Ridge

by H. B.

Vaughan;

Bottom

left:

Archie

Troup

(centre,

with bass

drum).

and Dr Rogers was being kept

busy. At three oclock the word was

passed that another bombardment

another advance to be made. At the

but the Germans replied, shelling

our trenches, and for an hour it was

for I was practically in the open all the

to work on A Companys books

wounds in the left leg while sitting

beside me. While I was bandaging

August 28, 1914

Royal Navy wins first battle of

Heligoland Bight in the North Sea.

October 1, 1914

First Battle of Arras, an attempt by the

French to stop the Germans reaching

the English Channel.

September 26, 1914

Battle of the Marne checks German

advance with 13,000 British, 250,000

French and 250,000 German casualties.



FirstWorldWar

7

A tribute to the members of

the 8th (Service) battalion

the black Watch, royal

Highlanders by Major ronnie

Proctor Mbe, whose wife

Sonias grandfather William

reid was in the black Watch in

the First World War.

The baTTalion was raised

in august 1914 by lord Sempill

of Fintray and first mustered at

albuera barracks, aldershot in

September 1914. it was part of

the 26th (highland) brigade and

9th Scottish Division.

Unlike the Territorial

battalions recruited from

their own local area, the 8th

and successive new army

battalions recruited from the

regimental area of angus,

Dundee, Fife and Perthshire.

Farm workers stood side

by side with miners, factory

workers, shopkeepers and so

on throughout the war. Many

officers and soldiers were ex-

regulars who had re-enlisted

soon after war was declared,

and the battalion had a firm

backbone to steady the young

men who had enlisted straight

from civilian life.

although the battalion quickly

reached its established strength,

it took some time for uniforms,

weapons and equipment to be

issued and it was the new Year

of 1915 before it was equipped to

scale. The men were shipped to

France in early May and were soon

involved in trench warfare.

The battalion was engaged in

most major battles, the first being

the battle of loos in September

1915 where Captain The hon

Fergus bowes-lyon, the brother of

The Queen Mother, was killed at the

hohenzollern Redoubt.

Trench warfare continued till May

1916 then the battalion took part

in the battles of the Somme and

Vimy Ridge, first battle of arras until

april 1917 and the second battle of

arras, followed by Passchendaele in

March 1918.

March to May 1918 saw the

battalion involved in repulsing the

BlackWatchs bravery

We were greatly relieved to hear

that we were to go back into reserve

that night, our places being taken by

another battalion. Since then we have

been under heavy artillery fire.

We have been sleeping in the

open trench, and, as we have only

our waterproofs, our greatcoats and

packs having been taken from us

before going into action, we have felt

the cold at nights.

Luckily we have not been called

to wear the masks supplied to

counteract the effects of the gases

which the Huns have been using.

It is remarkable the cheery way the

men behave as soon as they are out

of the thick of it. We are all wishing,

however, we were back to our billets

again, so that we can get a proper

rest. Young Gordon, of 54 Dudhope

Street, is all right, but I regret to say

that Johnny Diamond is a gonner. I

got a lance-corporal and four men of

the latest draft two days before the

flight, and they are all wounded.

Pte

William

Reid.

Germans last assault against britain

and her allies on the Western Front.

When David lackie Findlay

joined in June 1918, the battalion

had been in the line in the

hondeghem area and were involved

in the attack at Meteren.

The battalion was heavily

involved in the last one hundred

days, the advance to victory. From

november 1918 to november 1919

the battalion carried out garrison

duties on the Rhine until it was

demobilised.

October 16, 1914

The British Indian Expeditionary Force

sails from Bombay to the Persian Gulf

for the defence of Mesopotamia.

October 29, 1914

Turkey enters the war.

October 18, 1914

First Battle of Ypres.

Archie Troup fell at Aubers Ridge.

FirstWorldWar



8

tim

eline

T

he Gallipoli Campaign

took place on the Gallipoli

peninsula in the ottoman

empire (now known as

Turkey) between april 25 1915 and

January 9 1916.

The peninsula forms the northern

bank of the Dardanelles, a strait that

provides a sea route to what was

then the Russian empire, one of the

allied powers during the war.

W

hen war broke out,

20-year-old Fred Tait was a

journalist with Courier

publisher D C Thomson.

after enlisting at Yorkhill in

Glasgow, he joined 1/1st Lowland

Field ambulance of the royal army

Medical Corps, and left Scotland on

June 4 1915 on a journey that would

take him to north africa, Palestine,

Gallipoli and France.

During this time he wrote articles

about his experiences for The

Saturday Post and filled his diaries

and journals with insights into the life

of an ordinary Scot in extraordinary

circumstances.

These selected excerpts from 1914

and 1915 give a snapshot of what

Fred, and hundreds of thousands like

him, went through in the heat of war.

August 4

war was declared between Britain

and Germany.

September 11

enlisted at Yorkhill, Glasgow.

November 15

at last we are arrayed in the coveted

khaki.

June 4

The fateful day. amid scenes of great

enthusiasm we left Grahamston

Station, Falkirk. There were two

long trains; I went with the first at

3.30. Our route was via edinburgh,

Carlisle, Birmingham, Cheltenham

and Taunton, to Plymouth. we sailed

from Devonport at 7pm the following

day after a railway journey of over 21

hours.

Freds despatches from the front

Gallipoli

ASoldiersStory

hoping to secure it, Britain and

France launched a naval attack

followed by an amphibious landing

on the peninsula with the aim of

capturing the ottoman capital

of Constantinople (modern-day

istanbul).

The naval attack was repelled

and, after eight months fighting

with many casualties on both sides,

the land campaign also failed and

the invasion force was withdrawn to

egypt.

The battle was one of the allies

worst disasters of the First World

War. The doomed campaign was

thought up by Winston Churchill,

the First lord of the admiralty, to

bring the war to an early conclusion

by creating a new war front that the

ottomans could not cope with.

June 22

about five oclock we steamed

out of alexandria and headed

north-west. we had on board

with us a large number of men

who had been wounded in

Gallipoli and, having recovered,

were on their way back. we

had every conceivable regiment

represented. Several belonged to

the 5th royal Scots.

June 28

It was after one in the morning that we

landed in Gallipoli. we could hear the

thunder of the big guns and the rattle

of musketry quite distinctly from the

firing lines.

June 29

aT 2.30 in the morning we were

called up to get to work amongst the

wounded. Brg. Gen. Scott Moncrief,

our Brigade Commander, and Col

hahenaly 1/8 Sr. were killed in the

charge of the 28th. The wounded

werepasseddownthis trenchthrough

our hands. The heat during the day

was something terrible and made

the work of carrying stretchers seem

10 times more heavy. I had about 12

hours of it on a stretch before I was

relieved. I was never more done up in

my life so much so I would almost

have welcomed a bullet.

I had a narrow escape when it was

dark. I was making my way from the

open road into the communication

trench and had just stepped aside

into a dug-out when a high explosive

shell burst right on the spot I had been

a few seconds before. That was only

about half a dozen yards away, and

had it not been for the dug-out I might

quite easily have been hit by some of

the fragments. as it was I was about

smothered by flying earth and dust.

July 12

Big bombardment of achi-Baba

commenced. we set out about five

oclock in the morning and crossed

the French lines to take up duty on the

right flank where the heavy fighting

was to take place.

During the afternoon a dozen of us

penetrated right up to the firing line.

The trenches were too narrow to allow

the passage of stretchers, and to get

thewoundedoutwehadtocarry them

above our heads. It was killing work

November 2, 1914

The United Kingdom begins naval

blockade of Germany.

December 24/25, 1914

In parts of the Western Front, an

unofficial truce is observed between

British and German forces.

November 22, 1914

Trenches are established along the

entire Western Front.

Fred Tait.



FirstWorldWar

9

as the heat was something terrible. All

day and all night we worked and the

bulk of the wounded werent down

yet. The communications trenches

were choked up with them.

July 14

Altogether we have been 56 hours

hard at it and we were almost in

a state of collapse. We calculated

that over 2,000 wounded had come

down, and though every available

ambulance was at work there were

times when we could scarcely cope

with the stream of wounded. Several

times we were working under shrapnel

fire while stray bullets were whizzing

overhead, but fortunately none of us

were hit. The Edinburgh Ambulance

were very unfortunate; they had three

killed and about 14 wounded.

July 15

Wereturnedtoourbase in theevening,

after an experience we will never

forget. We were completely done up,

butwehadearnedeverybodyspraise.

Even men who had been taking part

in the fiercest fighting were heard to

exclaim that they were glad they were

not in the RAMC. During these four

days we saw many terrible sights

and pathetic scenes. I was taking

a patient down a very narrow part

of a communication trench when a

large number of troops passed us on

their way to reinforce the men in the

trenches. We had to put the stretcher

down while they passed. About the

middle of the line one of the men

happened to look down at the patient

to recognise his own brother who

had been wounded by shrapnel on

the head. It was a most touching

meeting. Another wounded man we

were taking down wanted to get back

to the trenches. He said his regiment

were going to make a charge and he

wanted to be in it to take his place

beside his brother. Another one told

me how he had seen his brother fall

before his eyes, bayonetted by a Turk.

September 27

Received word of big successes in

France. For seven oclock that night

a special demonstration was ordered.

Every group of batteries banged away

21 shots on a given objective, and

no sooner had the first fired than a

tremendous cheer was sent up from

all over the Peninsula. The sudden

outburst of heavy cannonading and

cheering must have given the Turks

a great shock, for they immediately

started a very heavy rapid fire from

their trenches. They probably thought

that we were going to commence

a general attack on them. The

bullets were flying about as freely

as hailstones and after giving three

hearty cheers we had to make a rapid

bolt for our dug-outs.

December 24

That evening, being Christmas Eve,

we held an open air concert and

secured the aid of the 52nd Divisional

Band to help us. The night was an

exceptionally fine one and the concert

was a great success.

December 25

Bar the visit of one or two enemy

planes and artillery activity, Christmas

was a more or less uneventful day.

The weather was ideal, the sun being

quite hot during the day.

December 26

Attached to the 29th Division today.

In consequence we took over Pink

Farm, C section, and details of A

section going up. There had been

some heavy rain during the night and

the trenches were knee-deep in mud.

Some of the men whom I saw down

the trenches were

scarcely recognisable.

December 31

Had a hot time of it

from Beachy Bill,

the great gun brought

round from Sulva by

the Turks and now

usedtobombardW

beach from behind

the hill. It was a

strange Hogmanay.

Our camp was

practically deserted,

every available man

almost being up at

the gullies dealing

with an abnormally

large number of

wounded.

Right (from

top): a sled

ambulance;

destroying

the railroad;

examining a

plane wreck.

January 19, 1915

First airborne attack on Britain sees

bombs dropped by Zeppelins on Great

Yarmouth, killing five civilians.

February 18, 1915

Blockade of Britain by German U-boats

begins. All vessels are considered

viable targets.

February 4, 1915

Germans begin using submarines

against merchant vessels.

This picture: a poignant moment

at Cape Helles. Picture: PA.

Below: British troops on W beach.

Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

FirstWorldWar



10

tim

eline

Right: a Punch drawing of the

Lusitanias demise. Far right: anti-

German protests followed the sinking.

Mr George Nicoll of Dundee was just one of

the passengers of the ill-fated Lusitania.

I

n her glory days rMS Lusitania

was a British ocean liner,

launched by the Cunard Line

in 1906 and for a short time,

the worlds biggest ship. In 1915

she was torpedoed and sunk by a

German U-boat, causing the deaths

of 1,198 passengers and crew.

When she left new York for

Liverpool on that fateful voyage on

May 1 1915, submarine warfare

was intensifying in the Atlantic.

Germany had declared the seas

around the United Kingdom to be a

war zone, and the German embassy

in the United States had placed a

newspaper advertisement warning

people not to sail on Lusitania.

On the afternoon of May 7

Lusitania was torpedoed by a

German U-Boat, 11 miles off the

southern coast of Ireland and

inside the declared zone of war. A

second internal explosion sent her

to the bottom in 18 minutes.

But this action by the Germans

was to have far-reaching

consequences for them: by firing on

a non-military ship without warning,

they had breached the international

Cruiser rules.

Despite the Germans reasons

Pirates jeer and mock victims

as passengers are drowning:

Will you singtipperary now?

Were there two or more

submarines watching for the

Lusitania? how was she waylaid?

Upon these interesting questions

light is shed by Mr ernest Cowper, a

well-known American journalist, who

asserts emphatically that about an

hour-and-a-quarter before the ship

was struck a submarine had been

sighted on the horizon.

As he himself put it: I was standing

with Mr rogers on the starboard side

when all at once we observed the

wake of our ship and realised that

something was happening. When

the vessel appeared to swerve

we ran to the other side, and then

clearly saw away on the horizon the

conning tower of a submarine. She

was evidently bent on heading us off,

and sent us right into the other one.

I have not the slightest doubt that a

cleverly-laid scheme was planned

and successfully carried out. the

torpedoes struck at right angles.

When we saw the submarine Mr

rogers, who is my editor, was most

unconcerned, and said: heres

where we get our copy.

Lusitania

How The Courier reported

the tragic liners sinking

for treating Lusitania as a naval

vessel the ship was carrying

war munitions and the British had

also been breaching the Cruiser

rules the sinking caused a storm

of protest in the United States,

because 128 Americans were

among the dead.

The action was a major influence

on the decision by the US to enter

the war in 1917.

the last I saw of Mr rogers was

when I got into the second boat.

he was then calmly walking up and

down the deck nursing a baby. I

have not heard of him since, and I

fear he is drowned.

there were two very prominent

and wealthy Americans in my

lifeboat. When we got clear both

stood up in the boat and recorded

a solemn pledge that if the United

States was not in this within seven

days they would renounce their

citizenship forever.

taunt from submarine crew

here is another incident typical

of many. After the ship had been

struck we saw what appeared to be

an overturned boat. We were soon

disillusioned, for a loud cheer burst

forth, and it emanated, as we found,

from the submarine.

there was more cheering, and

then a shout: Will you sing tipperary

now? after which the enemy craft

disappeared from view.

Huns jeer at Lusitania victims

Lifeboats with helpless women and

children were glued to the side

of the Lusitania as the great liner

plunged beneath the waves. the

civilised world has been stunned by

Germanys latest outrage against

humanity. By the sinking of the

mammoth liner Lusitania and the

loss of close on 1,500 lives Germany

has aroused a wave of indignation

throughout the world, and stands

condemned as the most wicked and

unscrupulous nation on earth.

the Lusitania carried 2,160

persons. Of these, only 703 have

been saved. the figures as

tabulated are:

Passengers: 1,313

Crew: 847

tOtaL: 2,160

survivors brought ashore: 703

Dead brought ashore: 145

Death toll: 1,457

Very feW first class passengers

have been saved. they believed

that the great liner, with its water-tight

compartments, would continue to

float.

So rapidly did the ship go down

that only a small number of the ships

boats could be launched.

every effort was made to save

the women and children first.

Passengers jumped from the

deck for the boats in the water

then a shout: Will you sing tipperary

plunged beneath the waves. the

civilised world has been stunned by

Germanys latest outrage against

humanity. By the sinking of the

mammoth liner Lusitania and the

loss of close on 1,500 lives Germany

has aroused a wave of indignation

throughout the world, and stands

condemned as the most wicked and

unscrupulous nation on earth.

persons. Of these, only 703 have

been saved. the figures as

tabulated are:

Passengers:

Crew:

tOtaL:

survivors brought ashore:

Dead brought ashore:

Death toll:

Very feW first class passengers

have been saved. they believed

that the great liner, with its water-tight

compartments, would continue to

float.

that only a small number of the ships

boats could be launched.

the women and children first.

February 19, 1915

The Gallipoli campaign begins.

April 22, 1915

Start of second battle of Ypres, in which

Germany first used poison gas.

March 10, 1915

The British offensive at Neuve Chapelle

begins. Allied losses amount to 12,800

in two days.



FirstWorldWar

11

Right: a Punch cartoon shows the

Kaiser being accused of wilful

murder by ordering the sinking.

below. Hundreds were left struggling

in the sea. Survivors state that it was

three hours before help arrived.

Captain Turner, the commander of

the Lusitania, is amongst the saved.

He was on the bridge to the last, and

went down with his ship. Fortunately

he had been supplied with a lifebelt,

and after three hours in the water

was picked up by one of the rescue

boats.

Dundee survivor of Lusitania

escaped by sliding down log-line:

important suggestion as to the

lifeboats.

Mr WiLLiaM SCriMgeour, a

Lusitania survivor, who has returned

to his home at 3 arbroath road,

Dundee, has had his full share

of perilous adventures since he

began to follow the sea as a marine

engineer some eight years ago.

in 1907 Mr Scrimgeour, who

served his apprenticeship with

gourlay Bros. & Co., Ltd., made

his first trip on the Dundee steamer

Naworth Castle. The voyage proved

a disastrous one. The Naworth

Castle, which was bound from the

Tyne to the Mediterranean, was sunk

in collision off Dover, and five of

her crew perished. Mr Scrimgeour

had a narrow escape then, just

managing to get up from the depths

of the stokehole and clear the ship

before she went under. Curiously

enough, he had served for a time as

an engineer on board the great and

graceful Lusitania, of whose tragic

end he was a witness.

Treated as a joke

TakiNg aN opportunity for

advancement in his profession,

Mr Scrimgeour left the Cunard

Co.s service and went to america.

For some time back he had been

running between New York and

Central american ports, and had

made up his mind to have a trip

home.

Like all the other passengers on

the Lusitania, Mr Scrimgeour was

aware of the published warning of

the danger of german submarines. i

saw the advertisement in a New York

paper, he told the Courier yesterday,

and on the voyage the passengers

talked freely about the matter, but all

treated it in a joking manner.

it was not until the Lusitania was off

the irish coast that the light-hearted

dismissal of the great improbability

was changed into a fear that

something might happen. This was

the result of the ships boats being

swung ready for action.

Dundee man on board Lusitania

No WorD has yet been received by

his parents, who reside at 70

Peddie Street, Dundee, regarding

the fate of Mr george Nicoll, one

of the passengers of the ill-fated

Lusitania.

Mr Nicoll who is 26 years of

age, started work at the age of 14,

being employed at the bookstall at

Tay Bridge Station. Later he was

transferred to the West Station and

thence to the Larbert. Several years

ago he was promoted to the bookstall

at elgin.

Two years ago Mr Nicoll emigrated

to Philadelphia, where he was

employed as a night clerk in the

YMCa, and resided with a married

sister. He was home on holiday

10 months ago, and at the time of

the disaster was on his way home to

settle down.

April 25, 1915

Allied landing at Gallipoli 70,000

British Commonwealth and French

troops come under heavy fire.

May 23, 1915

Italy declares war on Germany and

Austria.

May 7, 1915

British liner Lusitania is sunk by a

German U-Boat.

FirstWorldWar



12

tim

eline

Battle

ofloos

L

oos aLso known as

scotlands somme took

place between september

25 and october 14 1915

and deserves to be called a

scottish battle owing to the large

number of scottish troops in

action: 30,000 took part in the

attack. scottish losses were so

dreadful that no part of scotland

was unaffected. Dundees own,

the 4th battalion Black Watch,

had massive casualties; the 9th

lost 680 officers and men in the

first hours of the fighting. of 950

men of the 6th Cameronians

who went into battle, 700 were

casualties.

of 72 infantry battalions taking

part in the first phase of the

battle, half were scottish.

By the end of the first day

strong counter-attacks by the

Germans forced the British

back. When a second British

attack suffered heavy losses

on october 13, sir John French

decided to bring an end to the

offensive. The campaign cost

the British Expeditionary Force

50,000 casualties. The French

lost 48,000 and the Germans

about 24,000.

Dr Kenefick,a lecturer in

history at Dundee University,

and founder of the Great War

Dundee Commemorative Project,

said: The Battle of Loos, a

British offensive that started on

september 25 1915, involved

more than 60,000 scots and

was a big one for Dundee. It

decimated Dundees ain, the

4th Battalion of the Black Watch

which was overwhelmingly

Dundee men.

out of the 20 officers and

420 men who took part, 19

officers and 230 men were

killed or wounded and by

mid-october the battle had

taken its toll on the 8th and

9th Battalions too. There wasnt

a tenement, house or cottage

in Dundee that wouldnt have

been touched by this so you

can imagine the effect it would

have had on the city and its

surrounding area.

To this day the beacon on

Dundees Law is lit every year

on september 25 to remember

these men.

Dundees Own

The day you marched away,

Dundees own,

Our hearts were like to break,

Dundees own.

But you smiled away our tears

and we stifled all our fears,

Changing them to ringing

cheers for

Dundees own.

When Neuve Chapelle was oer,

Dundees own,

We gloried in your deeds,

Dundees own,

For we knew the towns good

name,

Had been honoured by your

fame,

You had bravely played the

game,

Dundees own.

But alas our hearts are sad,

Dundees own,

We mourn your sleeping brave,

Dundees own,

Mid the storm of shot and

shell where your gallant heroes

fell,

There lie broken hearts as well,

With Dundees own.

When victorious you march

home,

Dundees own,

To the city proud to call you

Dundees own.

If were quiet do not wonder,

We are glad, so glad, yet ponder

On the loved ones left out

yonder,

Dundees own.

battle, half were scottish.

By the end of the first day

strong counter-attacks by the

Germans forced the British

back. When a second British

attack suffered heavy losses

on october 13, sir John French

decided to bring an end to the

offensive. The campaign cost

the British Expeditionary Force

50,000 casualties. The French

lost 48,000 and the Germans

Dr Kenefick,a lecturer in

history at Dundee University,

and founder of the Great War

Dundee Commemorative Project,

said: The Battle of Loos, a

British offensive that started on

september 25 1915, involved

more than 60,000 scots and

was a big one for Dundee. It

decimated Dundees ain, the

4th Battalion of the Black Watch

which was overwhelmingly

out of the 20 officers and

420 men who took part, 19

officers and 230 men were

killed or wounded and by

mid-october the battle had mid-october the battle had

taken its toll on the 8th and taken its toll on the 8th and

When Neuve Chapelle was oer,

We gloried in your deeds,

For we knew the towns good

Had been honoured by your

You had bravely played the

But alas our hearts are sad,

We mourn your sleeping brave,

Mid the storm of shot and

shell where your gallant heroes

There lie broken hearts as well,

With Dundees own.

When victorious you march

To the city proud to call you

If were quiet do not wonder,

We are glad, so glad, yet ponder

On the loved ones left out

A painting

entitled

Scottish

Regiment

fighting

the

Germans

at Loos.

Above and below: the Black Watch

Corner monument in Flanders.

Pictures: Derek Patrick.

A study of the wreckage of war.

June 9, 1915

British troops in France first issued with

hand grenades.

August 16, 1915

A U-boat bombards Whitehaven,

proving Britains defences can be

breached by German submarines.

June 30, 1915

German troops use flame throwers for

the first time against the British lines at

Hooge, Ypres.



FirstWorldWar

13

J

ames Ramsay of Kirkcaldy

has written an account of his

fathers lucky escape at the

Battle of Loos:

My father, Private Robert Ramsay

was in the Black Watch (Royal

Highlanders) and was 20 at the time.

The information I have is a bit sparse,

but what I know is that he fought at

the Battle of Loos.

They were being bombarded with

shells. They heard them coming

over and were instructed to get

behind a hay stack but my father

just fell to the ground. The hay stack

was demolished and everyone was

killed apart from my father. He

was hit in the back with a piece of

shrapnel,woundinghim,buthewas

very lucky he had his rations on

his back with biscuits and tinned

Bully Beef, and he reckoned the

tin helped to stop the impact of the

shrapnel and probably saved his

life.

He crawled for quite a distance

with blood filling his boots. He

eventually came to a small house.

He asked where the nearby

medical centre was and they took

him there. It was like a conveyer

belt with all the wounded getting

treatment.

He was then taken to the coast

and then on to England where he

ASoldiersStory

Saved by a tin of bully beef

PRivate James BRaid of the

Royal Highlanders 1st Black Watch

from Kirkcaldy wrote many letters

home, detailing his war. He was

killed in action on september 25

1915 on the first day of the Battle

of Loos.

this letter is sparse and to the

point:

Dear Mother & Father, I received your

parcel last night everything was alright

nothing broken. We had a charge the

other day and took the German trench

which was 300 yds away. You talk

about murder you ought to have been

there, they were throwing bombs at us.

There was some of our chaps blown to

atoms at this juncture that made the

rest retire. I made for a shell hole five

yards away from their trench and lay

there till ten oclock when I crawled back

again in the dark. I will now draw to a

close no more to say at present with love.

To all respect the same, Mother &

Father xxxxxxxx Jim

a WaR victim from aristocracy

among the Glamis remembered

is Captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon,

born at the landmark 600-year-

old castle on the north of the

village and older brother of the

late Queen elizabeth, the Queen

mother.

Captain Bowes-Lyon left

behind a new wife and a love of

cricket indulged on the village

square to serve with the 8th

Battalion, the Black Watch. He

would meet his end in the early

part of the Battle of Loos, which

was put on a train for Scotland. He

actually travelled in the luggage rack

for the journey to Stobhill Hospital in

Glasgow for treatment. He had a hole

in his back the size of your fist.

He was then moved to Chatsworth

Mansion House near Derby for

convalescence.

Once he was fit, he became a

Redcap. After that he worked on

various farms in the East Neuk of Fife.

He lived till he was 95. His daughter

Janey is now 93, his other daughter is

85, son Andrew now deceased, and

myself now 75. We all owe our lives to

that tin of bully beef.

Have enclosed photo of him in

Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow, and his

war medals.

Pte Robert Ramsay is in the bed

second from the left at Stobhill.

The Courier reports on the death

of Captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon

Comradeswere

blown to atoms

brought the regiments darkest

day on september 25 1915 at the

appalling cost of more than 1,100

officers and men who wore the

Red Hackle.

the Black Watch were

involved in an attack on a

warren of trenches known as the

Hohenzollern Redoubt but initial

success was stalled by fierce

German resistance.

Courageously leading an attack

on German lines on the third

day of the battle, the 25-year-old

captains leg was blown off by a

barrage of artillery and, falling

back into his sergeants arms,

Bowes-Lyon was hit in the chest

and shoulder by enemy bullets,

and died on the field.

the angus officer is buried

in the quarry at vermelles,

northern France, the location of

the Commonwealth War Graves

Commission cemetery.

severely affected by the loss, the

Countess of strathmore withdrew

from public life until the marriage

of her daughter, elizabeth, to the

future king, in 1923.

September 6, 1915

First tank, Little Willie, trialled.

September 25, 1915

At the Battle of Loos the British use gas

for the first time but it blows back over

their own troops with 2,632 casualties.

September 8, 1915

Tsar Nicholas II personally takes

command of Russian Army.

FirstWorldWar



14

tim

eline

I

n January 1916 the Military

Service act was passed,

introducing conscription for the

first time in British Military History.

as a result of the initial call to arms

in 1914 more than 320,000 Scots

had joined up by the end of 1915

numbering around 13% of the British

total.But the appetite for volunteering

had begun to dwindle.Two

Decembers had passed since the

famous cry of Home by Christmas

and the harsh realities of life and

death at the front were becoming

ever more apparent.

The Military Service act meant

that single men were required to

enlist by January 1916, with the net

widening to include all men aged 18

to 41 by May of that year.

Many young men who were keen

to fight, however, such as Courier

reader George McMillans father,

Martin, managed to join up long

before their 19th birthday.Then

aged just 16, Martin presented

himself at his local recruiting station

in aberdeen.Dad was born and

brought up in aberdeen. He was

16 when he enlisted.Both his

brothers George and alex had

been killed on the Western Front

and, grief-stricken, he wanted to

avenge them.When he turned up

at the recruiting station, he thought

the minimum age was 18 and told

the Gordons sergeant he was 18,

but the minimum age was then 19

and the sergeant said he could not

accept him at 18.

never mind,he said, Just taka

wak roon the block and come back.

yell be 19 by then.My Dad did and

found himself in the army!

Dubbed theyoung Pretenders,

young men such as Martin were

often able to join up without

producing any proof of identification

and it wasnt until they were well into

their military service that their true

ages were discovered.

For others, or for their families,

the thought of leaving their homes,

September 27, 1915

British and Canadian regiments take Hill

70 at Loos and break the German line,

but cant exploit the breach.

October 31, 1915

Steel helmets are introduced for the

British Army.

October 12, 1915

British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by

German firing squad for helping Allied

troops escape from Belgium.

families and livelihoods behind

was too much and they applied for

exemption from military service on

various grounds, including protected

occupations, ill-health, business

or domestic hardship and those

appealing on moral or religious

grounds, who would become

known as conscientious objectors.

There are some well-documented

cases of parents who appealed

to the exemption tribunal,

unable to bear the thought of

sending a third or fourth son

to fight.Some of these were

successful with exemptions

being granted on the grounds

of hardship.

Men who were deemed

genuine conscientious

objectors could be granted

non-combatant duties, such

as stretcher-bearing.Those

who refused this option could

end up in special work camps

or even in prison, as was the

fate of Dundee Communist Bob

Stewart.

Two groups in Dundee

played an important role both

in resisting the introduction of

conscription before 1916 and as

anti-conscriptionists after the event.

The Independent Labour Party (ILP)

and the no-Conscription Fellowship

(nCF) had a lot of support in the

city most famously from Edwin

Scrymgeour who stood against

Churchill in the 1917 Ministerial

By-Election.

Your countrY

needs You

Left: this recruitment poster appeared in

The Peoples Friend on August 15 1914.

It appealed to the fighting spirit of Scots

and 600 years of history. Above: another

recruitment poster demands: Take

up the Sword of Justice and was

captioned: Remember the Lusitania.



FirstWorldWar

15

December 19, 1915

Douglas Haig replaces John French as

commander of the British Expeditionary

Force.

January 8, 1916

Gallipoli campaign ends with evacuation

from Helles.

December 20, 1915

Allies complete the evacuation of

83,000 troops from Suvla Bay

and ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli. Not

one is killed.

Samantha Bannerman, curator

at St andrews Preservation trust

museum, offers an insight into edwin

neddyScrymgeours role.

he was a key figure in the

anti-war movement in Dundee

and, arguably, Britain.through

his newspaper, the Scottish

Prohibitionist, he reported on the

injustices conscientious objectors

were being subjected to at military

tribunals at a time when the Defence

of the realm act (DOra) was

censoring anti-war propaganda, she

explained.

too old to be conscripted,

Scrymgeour attested to the

conviction of conscientious objectors

at military tribunals and supported

national organisations such as

the no-Conscription Fellowship.

most importantly, he was the only

politician during the First World War

to contest a by-election in Dundee,

taking on the minister of munitions

Winston Churchill.the ensuing

by-election campaign in 1917 gave

Dundonians a unique opportunity

not experienced anywhere else in

Britain, to question a member of

the Prime ministers cabinet during

the war.Whilst Churchill received a

raucous reception from the Dundee

electorate, Scrymgeour received a

much wider hearing of his views, and

was supported by over 40

ex-servicemen during his campaign.

he is best known as Britains first

and only Prohibitionist mP, yet he

arguably achieved much more as

an anti-war activist during the First

World War.

this extract from the tribunal of

conscientious objector michael reilly

in Buckhaven on march 2 1916

was discovered in the Fife archives.

the customs officer asked for total

exemption from military service on

the grounds that he saw himself as

a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ . .

. not permitted to engage in warfare.

Reilly: Can I take no military

service at all?

Mr Hogarth: had you a good

breakfast this morning?

Reilly: Yes.

Mr Hogarth: are you

aware that, but for the

British navy and the brave

lads who are fighting for

you, you would not have

got any breakfast at all?

[applause]

Reilly: But for the One

above, I would not have

been able to get breakfast!

[Laughter]

Mr Hogarth

[emphatically]: But for

the British navy, you would

not have got any breakfast.

[applause]

reilly was exempted from

combatant service.

above, I would not have

been able to get breakfast!

[Laughter]

[emphatically]:[emphatically]:

the British navy, you would

not have got any breakfast.

[applause]

combatant service.

Left,

above and

right: more

posters

playing on

potential

soldiers

sense of

duty and

pride.

Young

Pretenders

often conned

their way

into the

Army by

lying about

their age.

Edwin Scrymgeours role

FirstWorldWar



16

tim

eline

A

s chAnge on an epic

scale swept across

the international stage,

alterations that may

seem small in comparison were

touching almost every aspect

of daily life.Yet the importance

of these relatively minor details

must not be overlooked

because together they made a

Changing

World

January 27, 1916

Conscription is introduced in

the United Kingdom.

March 28, 1916

Womens Army Auxiliary Corp founded.

February 21, 1916

Battle of Verdun begins. The battle lasts

10 months and more than one million

men become casualties.

world of difference to ways of

living and thinking that would be

transformed forever.

The great War hastened

the end of the Upstairs,

Downstairs era when society

turned on its head and differing

classes found themselves

shoulder-to-shoulder in the

trenches and on the home front.

At Blair castle in Perthshire,

the 7th Duke of Atholl sent three

sons into military operations,

while the women of the family

contributed to the war effort in a

variety of ways.

Blair castle itself was

transformed into a Red cross

hospital run by Duchess Kitty.

The grand ballroom became a

hospital ward and recreation

room, while some of the familys

other rooms were used as

canteens for nurses and their

patients.

glamis castle in Angus was

also used as a military hospital

and captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon,

who was born there, was killed

at the Battle of Loos in 1915.

l See full story on Page 13.

The Queen Mothers

brother Captain Fergus

Bowes-Lyon (in group

right), born at Glamis,

Angus, who died at the

Battle of Loos.

Blair

Castle in

Perthshire

saw its

men go

off to war

and its

women

join the

war effort.

A hall in

Dumfries-

shire

became a

hospital

run by

aristocrats,

a situation

which was

repeated

across the

country.

A miner and his family on strike

before the war effectively put a

stop to industrial action.

The Queen Mothers

brother Captain Fergus

Bowes-Lyon (in group

Angus, who died at the

A single edition of The Courier,

picked at random from those

published during the war years,

serves as an illuminating 24-hour

snapshot of the time, and illustrates

that change was constant and its

impact all-pervading.

On June 1 1915, The Courier

announced: Dundee gas and

electricity rates are now on a war

level.

it explained that a rise of 7d on

the gas rate, from 2s 2d to 2s 9d per

1,000 cubic feet and advances of

10 per cent for electricity had been

agreed upon by the Town Council.

The great advance in the price of

coal, was the chief cause of fresh

calls upon the ratepayers and the

report added: The Town Councillors

were inclined to restrain criticism in

the face of an inevitable position.

Treasurer soutar, in submitting

the accounts, asked the

members to keep specially in

view the very extraordinary

and unforeseen conditions

resulting from the war which

were encountered during the

latter nine months of the years

working.

The crux of this years finance

was, however covered and

explained by one word spelt large

Coal. it, like butcher meat,

bread, and everything else had

bounded to a price altogether

unforeseen and unthinkable at the

time the estimates were framed.

The coal industry serves as an

A miner and his family on strike A miner and his family on strike

before the war effectively put a before the war effectively put a

stop to industrial action. stop to industrial action.

were inclined to restrain criticism in

unforeseen and unthinkable at the



FirstWorldWar

17

April 2, 1916

Zeppelin raid on Edinburgh. Thirteen

die, 24 are wounded.

April 29, 1916

Besieged Allied forces surrender to

Turks at Kut after 143 days 9,000

British and Indian troops captured.

April 24, 1916

Easter Rising in Dublin against British

rule.

Left: an

ambulance

train

carrying

wounded

soldiers

arrives in

Dundee.

example of the role reversals which

were taking place across the board.

As civilian properties and people

were enlisted into the war effort,

individuals found themselves in

unexpected situations, performing

tasks they had never envisioned for

themselves.

It is estimated that nearly 100,000

miners were sent to serve at the

front where their tunnelling and

construction skills were put to use.

One of the biggest challenges was

that they had to take care not to make

a sound as they worked, lest they

attract the attention of the enemy

no mean feat when armed with a pick

and shovel.The outbreak of war also

effectively brought an end to industrial

action which had been a regular

occurrence in several sectors and

in 1916 mining was nationalised,

giving miners more pay and excusing

them from conscription.

Trains were transformed into

mobile hospitals and the first to arrive

in Dundee came in on November

3 1914. It carried 100 men and

consisted of 10 coaches with six

wards, each with 18 beds.

Meanwhile, the courts were

dealing with a new brand of crime.

The Defence of The Realm Act was

passed on August 8 1914, four days

after the outbreak of war and it was

amended and extended six times

over the duration.

Under the act, philosopher and

activist Bertrand Russell was sent

to prison, and in Scotland it figured

prominently in hearings during the

so-called Red Clydeside period.

On June 1 1915, however, The

Courier reported the much less

high-profile case of one William

Witcomb Stainer, who the day before

had pleaded guilty at Dunfermline

Sheriff Court to a charge brought

under the Act. His crime was to take a

photograph.

The case says something about

an air of paranoia and of the sudden

restrictions placed upon seemingly

innocent pursuits.The Courier court

report reads: The indictment bore

that on May 29 on the Forth Bridge,

near North Queensferry, he had in

his possession, without permission

of the military or naval authority

and in the vicinity of Rosyth Dock

and Harbour Works, photographic

apparatus consisting of a pocket

Kodak camera and film and without

lawful authority, attempted to collect

and record information with respect

to the description and disposition

of certain ships of His Majesty by

making photographs of them.

The accused was represented by

Mr A. P. MacBain, who stated that his

client had simply attempted to carry

out what he thought was an innocent

pastime without bearing in mind that

he was within a prohibited area.

The accused was an entire

stranger to Scotland and naturally

was quite keen to see the place,

said his solicitor, adding that his

client was a lecturer in technology at

Manchester University.

Mr MacBain told the court: On

Saturday afternoon he left Edinburgh

by the 2.35pm train and was arrested

before 4 oclock.

He was unaware of the very

proper precaution of relieving

passengers of portable possessions

before crossing the bridge. He had

a waistcoat pocket camera which

he wished to test. He along with his

lady friend travelled first class with a

fellow passenger. As the train passed

over the bridge the accused took two

or three snaps. Nothing was said

by the other passenger but when

they reached North Queensferry,

the former reported the affair to the

County Police and the accused was

taken into custody. He at once gave

up the film.

The Courier report added: His

Lordship said he had no doubt that

this was more a piece of folly than

anything else, but with a man of

intelligence and education it was

much more serious than it might be

with other people. He imposed a

penalty of 2.

FirstWorldWar



18

tim

eline

May 31, 1916

Battle of Jutland begins. The German

fleet ends up irreparably damaged for

the rest of the war.

June 5, 1916

HMS Hampshire sunk off Orkney.

Lord Kitchener is lost along with

643 crewmen.

June 5, 1916

TE Lawrence Lawrence of Arabia

aids Grand Sharif of Mecca, in the Arab

revolt against the Turks in Hejaz.

A

t the outbreak of war,

womens role in society was

very much the homemaker

and care-giver. those who

did work tended to be in service or

in the caring or teaching professions.

Suddenly women from every back-

ground were thrust into new roles

taking charge as the head of the

family and taking their first steps into

the world of work.

For the lucky ones, their family

members would make it home but for

many, dealing with the grief of losing

their husband or sons would become

part and parcel of the war experience.

Women

atWork

As they waved husbands, sons and grandsons off to the

front at the beginning of the First World War, the women

who stayed behind probably couldnt imagine how their

lives would be altered for ever

time gives a fascinating insight into

life during the war years. Alongside

updates on the latest gains on the

front and enemy advances, are

stories of gallantry from both men and

women and photographs of families

who will never see their husbands

and fathers again. But life went on for

Scotlands women, and alongside the

dramatic stories are reports on the

latest fashions from Paris and tips on

how to cook economically in wartime.

As the world around them changed

inexorably, so did the expectations

of those women. Many had never

considered or been given the chance

to have a career outside the home.

the womens suffrage movement

gathered pace and although many

of the changes did not last as men

returned home at the wars end, the

role of women in society would never

be the same again.

It is interesting to note that the

suffragettes, who had long been

viewed as an inconvenient problem

by local police forces, were to see

less persecution during the war years.

the Fife Archives reveal memos

to the police calling on constables

to ease off on their surveillance of

suffragettes, as we are all friends

now.

As well as work in first aid and the

part and parcel of the war experience.

A look at newpaper pages of the

hospitals service, many women took

on roles that had been traditionally

reserved for men in agriculture,

shipbuilding and munitions factories.

In Dundee, which did have a

history of women working in the jute

industry that led to the city being

known as the womens toun there

was still a break from normal practice

with female workers being taken on

at the Caledon shipyard and in the

munitions works, and becoming tram

conductors.

Nurses and medical staff were

more in demand than ever, with

hospitals helping to receive the war

wounded in Scotland and many

Below: a

Scottish

Womens

Hospitals

collection

box.

Above:

girls

making

shells in a

munitions

factory.

Above

left: May

Nelson

takes

on her

husbands

occupation

as a

chimney

sweep.



FirstWorldWar

19

Air Mechanic

John Brown, of

the Royal Flying

Corps, home in

Dundee after

serving two

years in France.

Pictured are

Private Brown,

his wife, and two

of their family at

their home. From

The Sunday Post,

January 21 1917.

Right:

Bessie

Bowhill,

a PRI

nurse who

volunteered

to serve in

a hospital

on the front

line.

July 1, 1916

Battle of the Somme sees 750,000

Allied soldiers in action. In one day

60,000 are dead, wounded or missing.

September 2, 1916

First German airship shot down over

Hertfordshire.

August 27, 1916

Italy declares war on Germany.

women answering the call to nurse

abroad. Female Scottish doctors and

nurses were at the forefront of the

drive to build field hospitals where

they could treat soldiers at the earliest

available opportunity.

One such volunteer was Bessie

Dora Bowhill (see picture right) who

gave up her secure role as matron at

Perth Royal Infirmary in 1915 to serve

as a nurse in the Womens Scottish

Hospital in Serbia. A report in The

Courier of April 8 1915 explains that

she had previously served as a nurse

in the Boer War in South Africa.

The following year we pick up her

story again with a report that the town

MRS WINSTON CHURCHILL VISITS DUNDEE:

Mrs Winston Churchill, who was the principal

speaker at a mass war meeting in the Kinnaird

Hall, Dundee, last night, is seen on the left of

the picture, in company with Lady Gwendoline

Churchill and Sir George Ritchie. From

The Courier, Wednesday March 10 1915.

in which she was working had fallen.

She was subsequently taken prisoner,

along with some of her colleagues,

before eventually being repatriated in

1916.

Women who didnt make the

physical move into the workplace

were often heavily involved with the

war effort in other ways.Well-known

figures such as Mrs Winston Churchill

spoke at mass war meetings, and

women from all walks of life put much

time and energy into raising funds

and war savings and bonds, and

encouraging men to enlist.

When the war ended, however,

the strides that women had made

into the workforce didnt

always hold firm.Womens

perceptions of their roles may

have changed, but there were

still men returning from the

front with the expectation that

their jobs or a job at least

would be waiting for them.

In most cases women were

expected to stand aside for

their male colleagues and if

their expectations for a more

equal role in society had been

raised, it was unfortunately

true that society more or less

returned to the status quo of

the pre-war years.

serving two

years in France.

Pictured are

Private Brown,

his wife, and two

of their family at

their home. From

The Sunday Post,

January 21 1917.

Atthegoing

downofthe

sunAnd inthe

morning

FirstWorldWar



20

WeWill

remember

them



21

FirstWorldWar

FirstWorldWar



22

tim

eline

E

arly on the morning of

July 1 1916 whistles were

blown to signal the start of

what would be the bloodiest

day in the history of the British

army.

Planned as a joint French and

British operation, the plan

which turned out to be naiive and

outdated was to aim territorial

gain and at the same time to

destroy German manpower.

Haig used 750,000 men

(27 divisions) against the German

frontline (16 divisions). However,

the bombardment failed to

The Somme

ASoldiersStory

A day of severe trials

P

rivate GeorGe Young

McLaren, 6889, 7th Battalion

The Black Watch (Royal

Highlanders) was killed on November

13 1916 during the last few days of

the Somme at the Battle of Ancre. On

that day, Beaumont Hamel, which

was one of the objectives on the

first day of the Battle of the Somme

on July 1, was at last taken. In this

area of the Western Front, fighting

was to the south-west of Beaumont

Hamel and attacking troops had to

negotiate the deep y-shaped ravine

which ran north-west to south-

east and was heavily defended by

German machine gun posts.

Here, Ken Kennedy of Broughty

Ferry tells his grandfathers story:

George McLaren was the husband

of M

First World War

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