Capt Percy William Straw M.C., Seaforth Highlanders

[corisande]

I tried this under soldiers and did not get anywhere, so I have locked that thread and am trying in this sub-forum. There is very little on the Forum Index about 1st Seaforth in the Middle East.

I am trying to get more on his war service in Mesopotamia and Palestine which I believe was with 1st Seaforth. I cannot find his SWB on Ancestry. I have his NA Service Record ref no, but will not be there fore some months.

I have his MIC from Ancestry if you have a subscription clickand the following from LG

1914 Oct 22. The undermentioned to be temporary Second Lieutenants. Percy William Straw.

1914 Oct 24. Service battalions. The undermentioned temporary Second Lieutenants' are transferred from (Reserve) Battalions with seniority from the dates shown against their names. Seaforth Highlanders, Percy W. Straw.

1915 Sep 30. Seaforth Highlanders. The undermentioned temporary Second Lieutenants to be temporary Lieutenants: Percy W. Straw.

1917 Jul 20 Sea. Highrs. ; The undermentioned temp. Lts. to be actg. Capts. : P. W. Straw

1917 Sep 26. Gazetted MC

1918 Jan 8. Citation for MC "T./Lt. Percy William Straw, Sea. Highrs. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When a strong hostile counter-attack had driven back troops on his flank, he at once formed a defensive flank, and by his fine personal example and leadership enabled the line to be held and gave time for our counter-attack to drive back the enemy and restore the situation.

1919 Jul 24. Sea. Highrs. Temp. Capt. P. W. Straw, M.C., relinquishes his commission on account of ill health caused by wounds and retains the rank of Capt.

[ander11]

Hello corisande

I have just looked through the war diary for the Highland Battalion from April - Jun 1916 ( this was when the 2nd Bn Black watch and the 1st Seaforth Highlanders joined to form a composite battalion) .

I looked through this diary but I didn't find any mention of Capt Percy William Straw M.C, maybe he arrived later in mesopotamia

regards

Ian

[corisande]

Ian

Thanks for the helpful reply. Straw seems to have been with the Seaforths from joining them in Oct 1915 in France. He was commissioned into Seaforths

I am not 100% certain that he was in 1st Seaforth then, but logically I am led to that conclusion. His arrival in France is at a time when 1 Seaforth were in France (Oct 1915), and I also know that he served in Mesopotamia and Palestine.

His MC Citation and other LG entries do not help with battalion, and there does not appear to be a SWB although the MIC shows his eligability.

As far as I can see only 2 Seaforth War Diary is available online from TNA, so I was trawling to see if anyone reading here had 1 Seaforth that might mention his MC or wounding. The MC is gazetted 26 Sep 1917 and references are to him as Lt, so the action is before 20 July 1917

There just seems to be a dearth of references to 1 Seaforth in Mesopotamia and Palestine.