Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

GWF is free to use so please support the Forum
  • entries
    9
  • comments
    16
  • views
    2,911

About this blog

Inspired by the anniversary of the First World War I suggested to my cousins that we visit Ypres where I knew that one of Grandfathers uncles had died in early May 1915.  The hundreth anniversary of his death coincided with the May Day Bank Holiday in 1915 so we arranged to meet there and I promised to do some research.  In a story probably familiar to many here I was fascinated by his story and as I tried to work out if he was the first officer to die from his home town of Galashiels increasingly drawn into the stories of those 638 men listed on the Galashiels War Memorial. I hope to post some of those stories here. 

Entries in this blog

25th March

Robert Romanis was stationed near Ypres in Belgium when the Kaiser Slacht started but his Division, the 35th received orders on the 22nd of March to reinforce the British line south near the Somme.  The Division was taken the 100 miles or south to Heilly station on trains. Each of the 9 battalions on a separate train.  The trains consisted of 1 carriage for the officers, 17 flat wagons for carts and stores and 40 covered wagons which would either contain Soldiers or Horses.  The 12th Highland Li
gmac101

gmac101

0

24th March

George Frier of the 1/7th  Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders died at the 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital from wounds received during the German attacks.  The3rd  Canadian Stationary Hospital was located in Doullens  which lay between Arras and Amiens.  As well as hosting the Hospital it was also the French HQ for part of the war.  The 1/7th A&SH were stationed on the front line  55km east between the  villages of Boursies and Demicourt when the Germans attacked. George was unlikely to have
gmac101

gmac101

0

23rd March

Frank Gibson who had arrived in France 3 years ago on the 23rd March 1915 was fighting with the 5th Battalion The Cameron Highlanders.  They had been in action since early on the 21st  when they came under bombardment as they occupied the frontline trenches just North of the ruined French village of  Gouzeaucourt.  Whilst they with the other Battalions in the 9th Division had held the Germans back units south of them had been unable to resist the German attacks and fell back to the West and Sout
gmac101

gmac101

0

22nd March

Gordon Tait was with the 8th Battalion of the Royal  Scots who by march 1918 were the divisional pioneers for the 51st  (Highland ) Division.  The 51st Division were holding the British line on either side of the Bapaume / Cambrai road near the village of Boursies when the Germans attacked on the 21st.  The 8th RS were in billets in Beugny about 5 miles behind the front line when the German barrage started but they took their places further forward near Lacquiere first in a sunken road which the
gmac101

gmac101

0

Operation Michael 1st Day

Over 40 men from Galashiels died during the Kaiserslacht  - I hope to record each one on the 100th anniversary of their death    Stewart Wilson had joined the army in early 1917, he had lived with his mother in Edinburgh prior to enlistment so his connection to Gala is not known but by March 1918 he was serving in the 9th Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps(.9/KRRC)  They were part of the 14th Division who were holding the British front line just south of the French city of St Que
gmac101

gmac101

0

The Missing

In my post "Numbers from the War Memorial" I mentioned that a there were 28 men who I had been unable to locate  - I've since been back through the records and found 8 or so of the missing but 20 remain unfound.  Here is a list of them and a summary of my attempts to fnd them.  If anybody has access to other records that may help identify them or clarify which of the recorded men may have a connection to Galashiels I would really appreciate if you could let me have access or point me in the righ
gmac101

gmac101

8

The King and I and the Galashiels War Memorial

Anybody researching a casualty on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission(CWGC) website knows that anything in the “additional information” column is always greatly appreciated but few have something as intriguing as:  “Son of Admiral John Bush, of Bangkok, Siam; husband of Jean I. Bush, of 21, Lauderdale St., Edinburgh.” The Galashiels War Memorial only lists only one member of the RAF; Captain V.G.A. Bush.  There is only one man of that name listed on the CWGC site, not in the RAF but in t
gmac101

gmac101

1

Numbers from the War Memorial

Numbers from the War Memorial.   Galashiels war memorial has 638 men listed on it.  I have tried to identify all of them.  So far I have identified 609, so 29 are “missing”.  Of the 609 the vast majority are listed on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission (CWGC) list of war dead but 17 are not.  These men generally died of disease after being discharged from the army.  As the CWGC lists of war dead were compiled post-war their deaths either did not meet the CWGC criteria or their famil
gmac101

gmac101

7

The Inglis Family

Today, the 24th of July 2017, one hundred years ago at about 9pm Dr Stevenson of Galashiels lost control of his car as he climbed Ladhope bank, the car mounted the pavement and struck Elizabeth Inglis who was walking to her home at 49 Glendinning Terrace with a young girl.  Elizabeth was fatally injured and died at the scene.  This must have been an awful blow to her Husband, ex Kings Own Scottish Borderers Piper Walter Inglis, as the couple  had lost 3 sons in the previous 3 years – all killed
gmac101

gmac101

0
×
×
  • Create New...