Wondering if anybody out there has a relation who served in the 6th Battalion Cameron Highlanders during the First World War. My grandfather served with the 6th Battalion in France between April and July 1918. He was wounded sometime between the end of June and the first week of July. His records say that he left France on 5th July and was initially sent back to England. The first hospital he stayed in was the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley, Southhampton. I have made two visits to the archives at Kew to read the war diaries of the 6th Battalion in an attempt to find out under what circumstances my grandfather was wounded. Although I obviously did not expect to find him mentioned by name personally I thought there just might be a reference to a particular incident that might have accounted for his injuries. The story in the family is that he was injured during a bombardment and suffered both physically and psychologically. What I do know is that his battalion/regiment was not involved in a full blown engagement with the enemy i.e. not a specifically named battle. I just cannot find anything in any official records (including my grandfather's service records) that might explain what happened to my grandfather so I thought that I would try to find out about the personal experiences of fellow soldiers from his battalion. All information warmly welcome.
Regards
Doddie
6th Batt. Cameron Highlanders, France 1918
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Currie
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Re: 6th Batt. Cameron Highlanders, France 1918
Hello Doddie,
On 10th June, 1918 the 7th Bn was reduced to a cadre, with most of the troops being transferred to the 6th Bn. There is a history online for the 7th and according to that the 6th remained in the Arras area until the beginning of July when they were taken out of the line. They thought they were headed for a bit of a rest but their train was stopped and they were sent back towards the front line. They ended up in the Montigny area and took over from an American unit on the line on the 22nd. http://www.archive.org/stream/historyof ... 8/mode/2up
If you can find your grandfather’s name published in the casualty lists in The Scotsman you could collect the names of other killed or wounded Cameron Highlanders a few days either side of that. The Scotsman has casualties listed by regiment, with surname, number, rank, initial and town of nok.
You could then check for the full name Bn. and death date for those killed at the SNWM etc. That may not be too difficult if it was a relatively quiet time. Then Google any 6th Bn. results and see if anything turns up for them. It would be a bit of a long shot but could give a picture of what was happening.
If you don’t have easy access to the Scotsman, you could post your Grandfather’s name and rank if you wish and I’ll have a bit of a look. There were about 10 Cameron’s reported killed in the paper on 21 June. I checked them and they were 5th Bn. killed on 25 April so looks like it could have been a couple of months before casualties made the news.
Just a thought,
Alan
On 10th June, 1918 the 7th Bn was reduced to a cadre, with most of the troops being transferred to the 6th Bn. There is a history online for the 7th and according to that the 6th remained in the Arras area until the beginning of July when they were taken out of the line. They thought they were headed for a bit of a rest but their train was stopped and they were sent back towards the front line. They ended up in the Montigny area and took over from an American unit on the line on the 22nd. http://www.archive.org/stream/historyof ... 8/mode/2up
If you can find your grandfather’s name published in the casualty lists in The Scotsman you could collect the names of other killed or wounded Cameron Highlanders a few days either side of that. The Scotsman has casualties listed by regiment, with surname, number, rank, initial and town of nok.
You could then check for the full name Bn. and death date for those killed at the SNWM etc. That may not be too difficult if it was a relatively quiet time. Then Google any 6th Bn. results and see if anything turns up for them. It would be a bit of a long shot but could give a picture of what was happening.
If you don’t have easy access to the Scotsman, you could post your Grandfather’s name and rank if you wish and I’ll have a bit of a look. There were about 10 Cameron’s reported killed in the paper on 21 June. I checked them and they were 5th Bn. killed on 25 April so looks like it could have been a couple of months before casualties made the news.
Just a thought,
Alan
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Montrose Budie
- Posts: 713
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Re: 6th Batt. Cameron Highlanders, France 1918
Hi Doddie
It sounds like you have read the 6th Bn's war diary.
It was common practice to gives numbers of casualties resulting from a specific battle. Officers were named, but other ranks rarely.
If no battle was involved all you are likely to find is the dates when they went into the front line, and the date when they left the front line, along with a note of the total casualties sustained in that period; again with officers' names but just the number of other ranks.
During a period in the front line, as well as incoming shells, casualties could also result from reconnaisance patrols and raids on the enemy's front line trenches, as well as activities such as laying barbed wire.
Obviously, casualties could still be sustained when they were in reserve, but still within range of enemy artillery.
Again, the war diary should tell the detailed story.
Apart from the war diary it could be worth looking for a memoir based on time spent with the 6th Bn The Camerons.
A post on The Great War forum at
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forum ... hp?act=idx could be an idea.
mb
It sounds like you have read the 6th Bn's war diary.
It was common practice to gives numbers of casualties resulting from a specific battle. Officers were named, but other ranks rarely.
If no battle was involved all you are likely to find is the dates when they went into the front line, and the date when they left the front line, along with a note of the total casualties sustained in that period; again with officers' names but just the number of other ranks.
During a period in the front line, as well as incoming shells, casualties could also result from reconnaisance patrols and raids on the enemy's front line trenches, as well as activities such as laying barbed wire.
Obviously, casualties could still be sustained when they were in reserve, but still within range of enemy artillery.
Again, the war diary should tell the detailed story.
Apart from the war diary it could be worth looking for a memoir based on time spent with the 6th Bn The Camerons.
A post on The Great War forum at
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forum ... hp?act=idx could be an idea.
mb
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doddie
- Posts: 135
- Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2009 6:45 pm
Re: 6th Batt. Cameron Highlanders, France 1918
To Alan and mb, thanks very much for your replies. Alan, found the link to the history of the 7th Batt. very interesting. Some details there that help me add to the information I already have. Also, mb it never occurred to me that my grandfather may have picked up his injuries during a reconnaisance mission - food for thought. Will let you know of any further progress in my research.
Regards
Doddie
Regards
Doddie