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Remembered Today:

9th Royal Scots Diaries


robbie56

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I have a couple of Diaries written by a 9th Royal Scot Officer. The period covered is 1914 to 1919. There are a few gaps but most of his active service is covered. He was wounded several times so there are gaps to the gaps ! They are written in pencil.

They're in a delicate state but I will be copying them soon.

If I remember correctly there's a chap on here who is involved with the Royal Scots Museum and research facility at Edinburgh Castle ?? If so, and you happen to be reading this and would like a copy, pm me with a forwarding address. That address should have some connection to Edinburgh, Museum, Castle, Military, Rank and so on just so that I can be satisfied in the knowledge that a copy of the diary ends up in the rightful hands and location.

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Tom Gordon would be able to point you in the right direction (ww1_daleboys). Although he is not stationed at the castle just now, he would be able to point you in the direction of the correct person. A fantastic find, I would say he was a lucky man to live that long, especially as a (junior?) officer.

John

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I transcribed the diary of Private William Dea for the Royal Scots Museum and the museum would be most interested in your diary. It is closed at the moment due to lack of staff. If you pm me I can give you the contact details of the Museum Secretary. Sadly I shall be seeing a few retired Royal Scots Officers at a funeral later this week.

Aye

Malcolm

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Malcolm,

I think I sent you a pm regarding contact details.

He was a Lieutenant (9th) at the outbreak of war, Captain in the 9th, sometimes the 8th., and a Major in 1919.

R

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Robbie,

What's his Name?

John Duncan,and I to a lesser extent,take a great interest in the 8th R.S.

John,I'm sure would like access to the transcribed Diary in the future.

As an aside there is a book due out "Private Beatson's War" which is yet another diary of the 9th.John and I supplied a photo to be printed in the book.

George

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Robbie,

What's his Name?

John Duncan,and I to a lesser extent,take a great interest in the 8th R.S.

John,I'm sure would like access to the transcribed Diary in the future.

As an aside there is a book due out "Private Beatson's War" which is yet another diary of the 9th.John and I supplied a photo to be printed in the book.

George

I thought I knew his name but after having read the diary again I'm not sure ! The diary is written mostly in the third person form and more factual than personal in it's contents.

There is one page which contains his full service history and I'm sure someone could name him based on the service details.

Appointments (Diary Page Heading)

4TH Aug 1914 - 20th July 1915 MGO 9th RS & 1st/9th RS

20th July 1915 - 22nd Sept 1915 '' (on leave)

22nd Sept 1915 - 9th Feb 1916 Recruiting Officer/OC 3rd/9th RS and 2nd/9th RS

9th Feb 1916 - 2nd March 1916

2nd March 1916 - 3rd May 1916

3rd May 1916 - 23rd May 1916 OC C Coy. 1st/9th RS

....and so on.

R

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I don't seem to be getting notifications for this thread, bizzare :huh: . If you can give me the date(s) he was with the 8th I can probably tell you his name, I have recorded most (hopefully all) of the officers coming and goings from the war diary.

Here are the Captains of teh 8th RS

Captain Alison Charles Ernest

Captain Ballantyne G H

Captain Christie Duncan

Captain Falconer Archibald Brodie

Captain Fleming William Arnot

Captain Grant-Suttie George Donald

Captain Gray T B

Captain Harrison A C

Captain Harvey G T

Captain Henderson W A

Captain Inch W H

Captain Jones H E R

Captain Jones A D

Captain Kerr J C

Captain Kerr R B

Captain Lawrie W E G

Captain Macrae W A R M

Captain Mitchell T B (Acting Major 1918)

Captain Ovens R B MC

Captain Pringle J S

Captain Richrdson J

Captain Ross J M

Captain Rowbotham J

Captain Smith C M

Captain Stewart T

Captain Stewart D M

Captain Sutherland F J S

Captain Tait James (Later Major)

Captain Thorburn M P (to 9th RS Oct 1917)

Captain Thorburn W E

Captain Thorburn R M

Captain Todrick Thomas

Captain Wallace W E

Captain Watson T W

Captain Yates G D

Captain Young J

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Could it be T W Bennit Clark or T W Bennet Clark ?? Promoted to Captain on 30/6/15

Thomas Wilfrid Bennet Clark can't find him in 8th yet though

John

post-12171-1254245623.jpg

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Thomas Wilfrid Bennet Clark can't find him in 8th yet though

John

post-12171-1254245623.jpg

The diary refers to a very short period with the 8th. He mentions a number of Officers from the 8th with whom he travelled, socialised and 'visited' whilst in France. I may have got it wrong that he transferred to the 8th but he does mention them.

Was Bennet Clark local ? Any idea what he did after the war ?

Anyway I'm still in need of an address in order to forward a copy.

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He stayed at 11 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh so he obviously came from the 'monied classes' . I would certainly be very interested in reading the diary.

I will drop you a PM shortly.

All the best , John

Charlotte Square

post-12171-1254247238.jpg

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I have a couple of Diaries written by a 9th Royal Scot Officer. The period covered is 1914 to 1919. There are a few gaps but most of his active service is covered. He was wounded several times so there are gaps to the gaps ! They are written in pencil.

Robbie if you come across any references to Acting Serjeant James Sullivan - particularly any reference to 19th to 22nd September 1917?? ?? A scan of anything you have would be fantastic???

Thanks in advance Martin :)

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest david v macdiarmid
Could it be T W Bennit Clark or T W Bennet Clark ?? Promoted to Captain on 30/6/15

Hi Robbie,I was sent a link to your discussion on T W Bennet-Clark.and was keen to get involved.I have been trying to do some research on his Brother George Bennet-Clark recently, and although i have unravelled some information, progress is coming to a halt unfortunately.George married Flora MacDonald in 1918 in Edinburgh.He was a captain in The Royal Scots but was acting as a temp Lieut Colonel in 1918 and eventually became Colonel.My interest is his and Flo's life,what became of George his military records and ideally a photo of the two of them together,I know that is a long shot but nothing ventured,etc any help here greatly appreciated,David

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Guest david v macdiarmid
He stayed at 11 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh so he obviously came from the 'monied classes' . I would certainly be very interested in reading the diary.

I will drop you a PM shortly.

All the best , John

Charlotte Square

post-12171-1254247238.jpg

Hi John,I have just contacted Robbie,so you should be able to see my message.There were three brothers in WW1 George,the eldest,Thomas and Patrick and they did indeed live at 11 Charlotte Square very palatial indeed.I cannot find any death records for George so i don't know if he died abroad or what,he was in Rangoon in 1921.My connection to this family is that whatever happened to George Flora ended up living with my uncle,believe it or not in Leith Walk.So i think you can see by having the crumbs of this story,i would love to know it all.Thanks for listening,John,David

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  • 7 years later...

Hi Robbie,

 

My partner is the great great niece of Thomas Wilfred Bennet-Clarke, she would love to know more about her family history. What ever happened with the diaries you had?

 

Michael

 

 

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Michael,

I'm researching a not-for-profit history of the 9th Royal Scots and my Index has quite a lot of information on TWBC

https://neillgilhooley.com/9th-royal-scots/index/

I've read through many of the letters he and his brothers wrote, held at the NWMS library at Edinburgh Castle. Also a number of the MG Section kept diaries, held at IWM, which I have worked through.

Are there any family stories you might be  able to add?

Kind regards,

Neill

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  • 8 months later...

I'm looking for relatives of Thomas Wilfred bennet clark, who died in 1963 aged 76.

 

His father was George Bennet clark who died in 1929, who married Hannah Sophia in 1882 in the parish of St.Georges Edinburgh.Did he have any children ?

 

Thaks

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  • 6 years later...

Hello! So my mother in law Shona is daughter of Flora Bennet Clark. Flora at some point changed her name to Vera and her father was George Bennet Clark. We have lots of old photos of the family. If you read this feel free to get in touch. Attached is a photo produced by Ross & Thompson of Edinburgh. 

 

You can contact Shona by sending me a PM

PXL_20240201_163852460.jpg

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On 28/10/2009 at 00:22, Guest david v macdiarmid said:

Hi Robbie,I was sent a link to your discussion on T W Bennet-Clark.and was keen to get involved.I have been trying to do some research on his Brother George Bennet-Clark recently, and although i have unravelled some information, progress is coming to a halt unfortunately.George married Flora MacDonald in 1918 in Edinburgh.He was a captain in The Royal Scots but was acting as a temp Lieut Colonel in 1918 and eventually became Colonel.My interest is his and Flo's life,what became of George his military records and ideally a photo of the two of them together,I know that is a long shot but nothing ventured,etc any help here greatly appreciated,David

Hi David, here is a picture of George (bottom left as child and right as an adult, Allen top left, Wilfred top right.

17068162424693847553084984305820.jpg

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  • Admin

Welcome to the forum, david v macdairmid is no longer a member here as denoted by guest. @robbie56is still visiting the forum.

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3 minutes ago, Michelle Young said:

Welcome to the forum, david v macdairmid is no longer a member here as denoted by guest. @robbie56is still visiting the forum.

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for letting me know, and thank you for the welcome!

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Fantastic photographs Michael - thank you. 

I particularly like the Colonel Bennet Clark & Regiment photograph (Geo or Th do we think?). Who can make out the plaque - 'A' CO H.Q. ? I'm doubting that O...

I have Thomas Wilfred Bennet Clark as being Lt-Col of the 7th/9th Royal Scots in 1927 (not sure of start date though), Norman Macdonald took command in 1931, both these men had been junior officers in the Great War with 9th Royal Scots [Appendix B of my book].

Edited by Neill Gilhooley
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  • Admin

Took the liberty of turning the photo the right way up. 

IMG_0981.jpeg

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