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1st Bn Cameron Highlanders 1914


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Hello - I am doing a small amount of research on the 1st Bn Cameron Highlanders in 1914 from mobilisation to the end of 1914. Having crunched some data, it would appear that the 1st Bn Cameron Highlanders had a particularly hard campaign at the start of the War. According to SDGW and CWGC data the battalion lost 584 all ranks killed by the end of Dec 1914. Assuming at least a similar number were wounded or POW this would effectively mean that the battalion wastage was in excess of 100% in this period. Given Killed: Wounded ratios in France and Flanders were typically in excess of 1:2 this might be a very conservative estimate and the real figure could be significantly higher. I am trying to piece together the numbers in an attempt to find out when the trained reinforcements ran out.

I have the War Diary but not the published history. The War Diary is patchy and the section covering 14 Aug 1914 (disembarkation at le Havre) to 20th Sep 1914 is missing. CWGC data shows the Cameron Highlanders had 161 men killed before this date including 148 on the 14th Sep alone. Edit: The Official History: Military Operations France and Belgium 1914 Vol I page 416 claims that

"On the whole the results of the 14th September were disappointing.....1/Cameron Highlanders lost six hundred officers and men..."

Which would suggest the ratio of KIA to (WIA + POW) was 1:3.....I am trying to piece together the reinforcement drafts and the living casualties (WIA, POW) for the whole of Aug-Dec 1914.

Finding the KIA and DOW is straightforward using SDGW. From the War Diary I have the following fragments of the reinforcement drafts and major events

20th Sep 14.....Second reinforcements: 2 officers and 161 ORs

22nd Sep 14....Third reinforcements: 1 officer and 90 - 95 ORs

28th Sep 14.....8 Officers arrive.

9th Oct 14........Draft of 1 officer and 250 All Ranks (sic)

30th Oct 14......"Battalion losses 14th-30th October 38 Officer & 1,000 men"

[note: CWGC data shows 104 killed between this dates, so this might be an exaggeration as it suggests a killed:wounded ratio of 1:9 which seems highly unusual]

6th Nov 14.......Draft of 106 ORs

11th Nov 14......Adj and three Officers reported missing "C & D Coys were nearly all reported missing"

13th Nov 14.....Draft of 50 ORs and 1 Officer

18th Nov14......Draft of 150 rank & file

22nd Nov 14.....Draft of 2 Officers and 100 rank and file

1-20th Dec 14...Refitting

22nd Dec 14.....Ofiicers K/W/M 0/6/3 ....OR K/W/M 6/64/132

24th Dec 14.....Draft of 1 Officer and 161 ORs arrive.

List of Officers in Dec shows 15 Officers of which 8 are from other Regiments. From the above, 1,058 OR reinforcements arrived between 20th Sep and 24th dec 1914. Given the forst record is or the second reinforcement clearly there was an additional reinforcement draft. Cross referencing with other units, the first reinforcements were almost universally 1 Officer and 93 ORs. Assuming the Cameron Hldrs were no different, this might imply 1,161 OR reinforcements arrived between disembarkation and the end of Dec 1914. ...which might go some way to balance the losses of 1,000 men in the second half of October 1914. Edit. The OH states that virtully every battalion received its first reinforcements on the 4th/5th September 1914.

If anyone has the 1st Bn Cameraon Highlanders' published history and can add any significant data points and in particular any numbers on strength during the period, I would be extremely grateful.

Thanks in advance.

MG

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Martin,

These letters from Capt. J.T. Stewart Murray may be of some use in regards to casualties and a draft he commanded that arrived on 22 Nov. (Stuart Murray had been wounded on the Aisne) - http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-people/48-brothers-arms/300-off-letter-1914.html

Dave

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Some numbers for you. You may be able to pinpoint the date of the letter if the war diary states when Colonel Macewan and Major Craig-Brown left on leave. Captain Murray is also mentioned in the article, as is the fate of 'D' Coy. (not transcribed) described as 'done in'.


Aberdeen Evening Express - Wednesday, 16 December 1914, p2:


Corporal George Matheson, B Company, 1st Cameron Highlanders, in a letter friend….It was a sorry looking battalion that came back for our first rest since we came out here. We are in the 1st Guards Brigade, as you know, so that we do not get much rest in that brigade. It always seems to be in the thick of it. We were complaining about the Aisne being bad, but it was a king to the fighting we have done since we came to Belgium. This is pure murder, not war. Well, you may know that out of the 1100 officers and men that came out at the start we have Major Yeadon and about 80 men left. Since we came to billets we have had several drafts, and Lord James Murray, who was wounded in the forearm at the Aisne, came with one.


Altogether we have had 1500 in drafts, and the present strength is 450, and out of that 450, 200 have never seen the firing line yet. Our officers at present are Colonel Macewan, Major Craig-Brown, Captain Sandilands, Captain Sir Thomas Erskine, Lord James Murray, Lieutenant Ferguson, Lieutenant Dunsterville (A. and S.H.), Lieutenant Pelham-Burn (Seaforths). Colonel Macewan and Major Craig-Brown joined at the Aisne the last days we were there. Colonel Macewan was doing Brigadier lately, but he is home to-day on four days' leave; so is Major Craig-Brown, S.-M. Axten, Q.-M.-S. Willie Gibson, and C.-S.-Major Tim Watts. Fancy furlough in war time…..


[L/Cpl 7890, 1st Cameron Highlanders landed in France 14 August 1914. Promoted to Sergeant. Survived the war.]


Stuart

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Martin

This book came into the shop the other day "Fred's War" A Doctor in the Trenches.

Looks really good.

Joe

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Joe,

This looks like a very interesting (250 photos from 1914!) book but unfortunately the doctor's battalion was the 1st Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) not the 1st Cameron Highlanders. A blurb on Amazon says that the Cameronians (or Fred?) sold the first photos from the war zone to the press http://www.amazon.com/Freds-War-A-Doctor-Trenches/dp/1780721811 - maybe "Fred's War" needs a thread of its own?

Dave

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I can't add to your statistics, but I am able to furnish an anecdotal point. The below image from my collection is the white drill-jacket of 2nd Lt. Archibald Smith-Sligo, one of those killed on 14 Sept 1914 with the 1st Cameron Highlanders. Smith-Sligo was one of 12 Camerons killed by a group of Germans who feigned surrender with a white flag and then fired on Smith-Sligo's platoon when they revealed themselves. This incident is mentioned in the War Diary. The jacket is named to Smith-Sligo and dated December 1913 when he was commissioned into the Supplementary reserve and then called up in August to serve with the 1st Bn.

86693bd2e54f.jpg

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  • 9 years later...
On 17/10/2013 at 16:38, Guest said:

Hello - I am doing a small amount of research on the 1st Bn Cameron Highlanders in 1914 from mobilisation to the end of 1914. Having crunched some data, it would appear that the 1st Bn Cameron Highlanders had a particularly hard campaign at the start of the War. According to SDGW and CWGC data the battalion lost 584 all ranks killed by the end of Dec 1914. Assuming at least a similar number were wounded or POW this would effectively mean that the battalion wastage was in excess of 100% in this period. Given Killed: Wounded ratios in France and Flanders were typically in excess of 1:2 this might be a very conservative estimate and the real figure could be significantly higher. I am trying to piece together the numbers in an attempt to find out when the trained reinforcements ran out.

I have the War Diary but not the published history. The War Diary is patchy and the section covering 14 Aug 1914 (disembarkation at le Havre) to 20th Sep 1914 is missing. CWGC data shows the Cameron Highlanders had 161 men killed before this date including 148 on the 14th Sep alone. Edit: The Official History: Military Operations France and Belgium 1914 Vol I page 416 claims that

"On the whole the results of the 14th September were disappointing.....1/Cameron Highlanders lost six hundred officers and men..."

Which would suggest the ratio of KIA to (WIA + POW) was 1:3.....I am trying to piece together the reinforcement drafts and the living casualties (WIA, POW) for the whole of Aug-Dec 1914.

Finding the KIA and DOW is straightforward using SDGW. From the War Diary I have the following fragments of the reinforcement drafts and major events

 

20th Sep 14.....Second reinforcements: 2 officers and 161 ORs

22nd Sep 14....Third reinforcements: 1 officer and 90 - 95 ORs

28th Sep 14.....8 Officers arrive.

9th Oct 14........Draft of 1 officer and 250 All Ranks (sic)

30th Oct 14......"Battalion losses 14th-30th October 38 Officer & 1,000 men"

[note: CWGC data shows 104 killed between this dates, so this might be an exaggeration as it suggests a killed:wounded ratio of 1:9 which seems highly unusual]

6th Nov 14.......Draft of 106 ORs

11th Nov 14......Adj and three Officers reported missing "C & D Coys were nearly all reported missing"

13th Nov 14.....Draft of 50 ORs and 1 Officer

18th Nov14......Draft of 150 rank & file

22nd Nov 14.....Draft of 2 Officers and 100 rank and file

1-20th Dec 14...Refitting

22nd Dec 14.....Ofiicers K/W/M 0/6/3 ....OR K/W/M 6/64/132

24th Dec 14.....Draft of 1 Officer and 161 ORs arrive.

List of Officers in Dec shows 15 Officers of which 8 are from other Regiments. From the above, 1,058 OR reinforcements arrived between 20th Sep and 24th dec 1914. Given the forst record is or the second reinforcement clearly there was an additional reinforcement draft. Cross referencing with other units, the first reinforcements were almost universally 1 Officer and 93 ORs. Assuming the Cameron Hldrs were no different, this might imply 1,161 OR reinforcements arrived between disembarkation and the end of Dec 1914. ...which might go some way to balance the losses of 1,000 men in the second half of October 1914. Edit. The OH states that virtully every battalion received its first reinforcements on the 4th/5th September 1914.

If anyone has the 1st Bn Cameraon Highlanders' published history and can add any significant data points and in particular any numbers on strength during the period, I would be extremely grateful.

Thanks in advance.

MG

Hi Stuart, 

Appreciate this post was created a long time ago but interested to hear what info you managed to find out. I have recently started trying to find out about George Matheson who wrote the letter that you have quoted as it turns out he is my Great Great Grandfather. I discovered this during my Grandfathers funeral last year when the family were talking about our past and where the family all came from before moving around Scotland. I’ve only ever read the part of the letter that you’ve quoted and would love to read the rest if it can be found. 

anyway, I hope this finds you well and you have a heap of info!

Many Thanks

Ross

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Welcome to the forum. @PPCLI is still visiting the forum, so hopefully my tag will alert Stuart to your post.

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Quote

Appreciate this post was created a long time ago but interested to hear what info you managed to find out.

Hi Ross, I wasn't the person doing the research, I only responded with the newspaper article. However, I have looked it up again and below is the full transcription, from the Aberdeen Evening Express - Wednesday, 16 December 1914, p2:

Unyielding Camerons.

ALWAYS IN THICK OF THE FIGHTING.

Winning Fresh Laurels.

Corporal George Matheson, B Company, 1st Cameron Highlanders, in a letter to a friend, writes:—We have had some very trying experiences. We are now in billets 20 miles behind Ypres in a small village called ___, close to the town of ___. It was a sorry looking battalion that came back for our first rest since we came out here. We are in the 1st Guards Brigade, as you know, so that we do not get much rest in that brigade. It always seems to be in the thick of it. We were complaining about the Aisne being bad, but it was king to the fighting we have done since we came to Belgium. This is pure murder, not war. Well, you may know that out of the 1100 officers and men that came out at the start we have Major Yeadon and about 80 men left. Since we came to billets we have had several drafts, and Lord James Murray, who was wounded in the forearm at the Aisne, came with one.

Furlough In War Time.

Altogether we have had 1500 in drafts, and the present strength is 450, and out of that 450, 200 have never seen the firing line yet. Our officers at present are Colonel Macewan, Major Craig-Brown, Captain Sandilands, Captain Sir Thomas Erskine, Lord James Murray, Lieutenant Ferguson, Lieutenant Dunsterville (A. and S.H), Lieutenant Pelham-Burn (Seaforths). Colonel Macewan and Major Craig-Brown joined us at the Aisne the last days we were there. Colonel Macewan was doing Brigadier lately, but he is home to-day on four days' leave; so is Major Craig-Brown, S.-M. Axten, Q.-M.-S. Willie Gibson, and C.-S.-Major Tim Watts. Fancy furlough in war time. Well, I think the regiment has made a name for itself in this campaign. We have been in the most desperate fighting, and gave a good account of ourselves. The last fight on the 11th was a desperate one. We had the Prussian Guards break through on our right somewhere.

A Race for the Wood.

Well, first of all they went right along our trenches for two hours. It was pure ___, and we could do nothing - only keep under cover. As soon as a man showed himself over he went. Then there was a slight lull in the shell fire, and, behold, when we looked round there were the Germans coming over the fields behind us. We got up and rushed into them, but they were too strong for us, so we had to retire into a wood behind our trenches. It was a race between them and us to get this wood, the Germans also making for it, as our guns were behind the wood. However, we got to the guns first and when the Germans did come out of the wood they got it, between rifle fire, shell, and the bayonet. Not one of them got back to tell the tale. That saw off the Prussian Guards, but, to give them their due, they were brave men. They were all big men; I did not see a man that day less than 6ft. After this was all over we started to look for one another, and D Company was missing; and I'm afraid they have been " done in.”

Killing Everybody.

Of course we can't say. as we did not get the trenches back when we were relieved the following day. Major Sorel Cameron was in command of D Company. Major Craig Brown was left in the trenches, and after darkness he got away along with three men, and they say that the Germans were taking no prisoners that day, killing everybody. Now, Captain Brodie's death was rather strange. He went through the wood after we had driven the Germans out, and we think it must have been a wounded German lying beside where Brodie was got that saw him off. At least the German did net reign long after Brodie was found. From all accounts the wounded Germans lying about were firing on our chaps when they were collecting the wounded, so that shows what a crowd the Germans were. Well, I think I have given you a fair description of our trials. We have had a few inches of snow and hard frost at night, but it has cleared off again. They are issuing a lot of fur coats, so that we look like a lot of bears. You should have heard "Michy" when he saw them. The place turned all colours. We get tons of comforts?more than we require. I believe you have plenty soldiers at home. Well we could do with a few here. That is what is needed here.

 

If you wish, I can send you a copy of the newspaper article.

Cheers,

Stuart

Edited by PPCLI
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9 hours ago, PPCLI said:

 

Hi Ross, I wasn't the person doing the research, I only responded with the newspaper article. However, I have looked it up again and below is the full transcription, from the Aberdeen Evening Express - Wednesday, 16 December 1914, p2:

Unyielding Camerons.

ALWAYS IN THICK OF THE FIGHTING.

Winning Fresh Laurels.

Corporal George Matheson, B Company, 1st Cameron Highlanders, in a letter to a friend, writes:—We have had some very trying experiences. We are now in billets 20 miles behind Ypres in a small village called ___, close to the town of ___. It was a sorry looking battalion that came back for our first rest since we came out here. We are in the 1st Guards Brigade, as you know, so that we do not get much rest in that brigade. It always seems to be in the thick of it. We were complaining about the Aisne being bad, but it was king to the fighting we have done since we came to Belgium. This is pure murder, not war. Well, you may know that out of the 1100 officers and men that came out at the start we have Major Yeadon and about 80 men left. Since we came to billets we have had several drafts, and Lord James Murray, who was wounded in the forearm at the Aisne, came with one.

Furlough In War Time.

Altogether we have had 1500 in drafts, and the present strength is 450, and out of that 450, 200 have never seen the firing line yet. Our officers at present are Colonel Macewan, Major Craig-Brown, Captain Sandilands, Captain Sir Thomas Erskine, Lord James Murray, Lieutenant Ferguson, Lieutenant Dunsterville (A. and S.H), Lieutenant Pelham-Burn (Seaforths). Colonel Macewan and Major Craig-Brown joined us at the Aisne the last days we were there. Colonel Macewan was doing Brigadier lately, but he is home to-day on four days' leave; so is Major Craig-Brown, S.-M. Axten, Q.-M.-S. Willie Gibson, and C.-S.-Major Tim Watts. Fancy furlough in war time. Well, I think the regiment has made a name for itself in this campaign. We have been in the most desperate fighting, and gave a good account of ourselves. The last fight on the 11th was a desperate one. We had the Prussian Guards break through on our right somewhere.

A Race for the Wood.

Well, first of all they went right along our trenches for two hours. It was pure ___, and we could do nothing - only keep under cover. As soon as a man showed himself over he went. Then there was a slight lull in the shell fire, and, behold, when we looked round there were the Germans coming over the fields behind us. We got up and rushed into them, but they were too strong for us, so we had to retire into a wood behind our trenches. It was a race between them and us to get this wood, the Germans also making for it, as our guns were behind the wood. However, we got to the guns first and when the Germans did come out of the wood they got it, between rifle fire, shell, and the bayonet. Not one of them got back to tell the tale. That saw off the Prussian Guards, but, to give them their due, they were brave men. They were all big men; I did not see a man that day less than 6ft. After this was all over we started to look for one another, and D Company was missing; and I'm afraid they have been " done in.”

Killing Everybody.

Of course we can't say. as we did not get the trenches back when we were relieved the following day. Major Sorel Cameron was in command of D Company. Major Craig Brown was left in the trenches, and after darkness he got away along with three men, and they say that the Germans were taking no prisoners that day, killing everybody. Now, Captain Brodie's death was rather strange. He went through the wood after we had driven the Germans out, and we think it must have been a wounded German lying beside where Brodie was got that saw him off. At least the German did net reign long after Brodie was found. From all accounts the wounded Germans lying about were firing on our chaps when they were collecting the wounded, so that shows what a crowd the Germans were. Well, I think I have given you a fair description of our trials. We have had a few inches of snow and hard frost at night, but it has cleared off again. They are issuing a lot of fur coats, so that we look like a lot of bears. You should have heard "Michy" when he saw them. The place turned all colours. We get tons of comforts?more than we require. I believe you have plenty soldiers at home. Well we could do with a few here. That is what is needed here.

 

If you wish, I can send you a copy of the newspaper article.

Cheers,

Stuart

Morning Stuart, 

apologies yes I got a tad confused when replying. New on the forum and didn’t realise I responded to the wrong comment. Nether the less, thank you for sending the whole transcript, what a terrible experience it sounds to have been and extremely lucky that my GG Grandfather returned home. 
 

I would be extremely interested to see a copy of the newspaper article if you could send? 
 

I have recently managed to come across his medal card in the National Archives too which has been great to see
 

Best Regards

Ross

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The thread originator is marked as guest, which means they’re no longer a member here anymore. 

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