6th Seaforth Highlanders (1/6 Battalion) - War Diaries

[hendersondonald]

Very belatedly, the August transcripts of the War Diaries for 1/6th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders.  Rather more punctually, September diairies attached as well.  The end was nigh at this stage, even if some hard fighting remained.

 

Please also remember (for those very interested) that the war diaries themselves, for Battalion, Brigade and Division, are available for pretty modest cost at the National Archives site. The Brigade and Division diaries in particular contain much much more information than the brief excerpts I have included here.

 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-war-diaries-1914-1922/

August 1918 6th Seaforths War Diary Transcripts.pdf

September 1918 6th Seaforths War Diary Transcripts.pdf

[GraemeClarke]

Cheers, many thanks,

 

Regards,

 

Graeme

[rainne]

Donald I tried to get into that site on my geat uncle medals and it says the site is not secured. any other suggestions. also looking for pictures of 6th seaforth highlanders especially Richard john walker

[Guest]

On 29/08/2018 at 07:03, hendersondonald said:

Very belatedly, the August transcripts of the War Diaries for 1/6th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders.  Rather more punctually, September diairies attached as well.  The end was nigh at this stage, even if some hard fighting remained.

 

Please also remember (for those very interested) that the war diaries themselves, for Battalion, Brigade and Division, are available for pretty modest cost at the National Archives site. The Brigade and Division diaries in particular contain much much more information than the brief excerpts I have included here.

 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-war-diaries-1914-1922/

August 1918 6th Seaforths War Diary Transcripts.pdf

September 1918 6th Seaforths War Diary Transcripts.pdf

 

Hello

I cant message directly yet hendersondonald. I've replied to a post of yours to hopefully trigger a notification. The diary's are great work!

 

My Grandads brother was John Barrett of 1st/6th killed in April 1917.

 

There is a problem with accessing the dairy files from the point where you started doing them in PDF. For Jan-Feb 1917 (3/4 down the 2nd page of the forum) to Jan 1918, the PDF files point to an invalid link .

 

Could you repost them please.

 

Regards

 

Lenard Barrett

[hendersondonald]

Thanks Leonard. I’ve also been carrying the weight of not finishing them. I think I still have November 1918 to do, and maybe October too. I’ll try to take them through to the end of the year, by which time the Battalion (though sadly not your great uncle) were in the army of occupation in Germany. 
 

I’ve also been doing a spreadsheet of the battalions deaths, collecting together as much information as I can glean from the War Graves Commission and from material published after the war (sometimes also from war diary entries, though the 6th Seaforth’s house style for their battalion war diaries did not allow much detail for the private soldier).  I’ll see what I have for your great uncle, in case any of it is new to you. 
 

I’ll also have a look at the PDFs and see what the problem is. I’ll message again when I’ve done so. 
 

kind regards

 

 

Donald

[hendersondonald]

12 hours ago, hendersondonald said:

Thanks Leonard. I’ve also been carrying the weight of not finishing them. I think I still have November 1918 to do, and maybe October too. I’ll try to take them through to the end of the year, by which time the Battalion (though sadly not your great uncle) were in the army of occupation in Germany. 
 

I’ve also been doing a spreadsheet of the battalions deaths, collecting together as much information as I can glean from the War Graves Commission and from material published after the war (sometimes also from war diary entries, though the 6th Seaforth’s house style for their battalion war diaries did not allow much detail for the private soldier).  I’ll see what I have for your great uncle, in case any of it is new to you. 
 

I’ll also have a look at the PDFs and see what the problem is. I’ll message again when I’ve done so. 
 

kind regards

 

 

Donald

Lenard, I can see that your great uncle was born in Elland, Yorkshire, he enlisted in Bradford, army number 267480.  He died of wounds, which normally means he was taken at least to a casualty clearing station, if not to a hospital further behind the lines.  Sadly it probably means his suffering was all the greater.  I'll look out the original pdf's and either post them here (if size limits allow) or find somewhere else to link to them. 

[hendersondonald]

I'm grateful to Lenard for pointing out that the old files, from February 1917 onward, are no longer available because the link is now dead.  It's far too long since I looked at these files and some of them have been corrupted along the way.  However I will retrieve what I can and post here as files (where they are below the file limit).

 

First off is a pdf file of February 1917.  The embedded graphics (maps, scans of the diaries etc) are sometimes a skew whiff, but with judicious zooming in and out, I think they are all legible.  Let me know if you have problems, and I will either edit or save in a different format. 

1078933578_6thSeaforthWarDiaryTranscriptFebruary1917.pdf

 

[hendersondonald]

I think February 1917 transcripts have loaded onto the site as a pdf, so here are the transcripts for March 1917, again in pdf.  I don't seem to have included any scans from the diaries - it may be there was less of interest. happening, since they were not in the line for most of the month

1720641051_6thSeaforthDiariesMarch1917.pdf

 

[hendersondonald]

And now April 1917.  Unlike the previous month, there were two quite big engagements at the beginning and again at the end of the month, sadly with many deaths and casualties (likely on both sides, but transcribing the Seaforth's experiences has been daunting enough, without trying to find out how to access German war diaries).

64730851_April19176thSeaforthDiariestranscript.pdf

 

This will perhaps be the last for this evening, but I will do more later in the week.  This one is May 1917. 

23570238_16thSeaforthDiariestranscriptMay1917.pdf

 

[hendersondonald]

On 24/05/2020 at 21:18, colincam said:

Donald Henderson, I am indebted to you for your transcription of the 6th Battalion war diaries above. A relative of my wife's Thomas Archer Lothian was in A Company of the 6th Battalion but was killed on the 28th April 1916. Your transcription describes how he died. Thanks. Regards Colin Campbell

Thanks Colin.  Appreciated.  There is a small audience for these, but I now it can mean a lot for that small number.

[hendersondonald]

And some further diaries from June to October 1917, inclusive.

436051444_6thSeaforthDiariesAugust1917andReportof3rdYpres.pdf2123632925_6thSeaforthDiarytranscriptJune1917.pdf1728055358_6thSeaforthDiariesJuly1917.pdf1547264011_October19176thSeaforthWardiariestranscripts.pdf1284467731_6thSeaforthSept1917wardiaries.pdf

Always remember that I have only scanned in selective pages from the War Diaries on the National Archives website.  If you have a detailed interest, or want to see exactly what was going on when you know a relative was in the fighting, they are very well worth a look.

 

[hendersondonald]

And my transcripts of the Battalion war diaries for November and December 1917, and January - February 1918.

1177923090_6thSeaforthHighlandersWarDiariesforNovember1917.pdf163564537_6thSeaforthWarDiarytranscriptsDecember1917.pdf929231881_6thSeaforthsWarDiariesJanuary1918.pdf1899748474_6thSeaforthsFebruary1918diaries.pdf

For reasons most readers of this site will know, the diaries for March 1918 are big and I will have to split the transcripts to keep them within the file limit.

 

 

[hendersondonald]

Here are 3 of the 4 files I have split March 1918 into, reflecting  the cataclysmic experience. the British Army had that month - the first file reflects the period up tot he attack, then the first days of the attack and finally the chapter in FW Bewsher's History of the 51st Division describing the month.  I will. post the transcripts for 27-31 March in a separate post.

1110832119_6thSeaforthWarDiarytranscriptsto19March1918beforeGermanoffensive.pdf654229301_FHBewsherKaiserslachtMarch1918.pdf

 

Herewith file 4 of 4 covering the transcripts for March 1918.

 

 

625670699_6thseaforthwardiarytranscripts27-31March1918.pdf 1050196658_6thSeaforthsWarDiaryTranscripts20-26March1918.pdf

[hendersondonald]

These are the transcripts, covering April to June 1918, where the tide was held and then began to be turned.  The scene was set for the summer.

1338580593_6thSeaforthWarDiarytranscriptsApril1918.pdf 67554625_6thSeaforthsDiariesMay1918.pdf 996369114_June1918Seaforthwardiariestranscripts.pdf

 

[hendersondonald]

Almost over for the evening.  Here are the 3 months where the tide was truly turned - July, August and September 1918.  I am still finalising my transcripts for October and November 1918.  Hard fighting remained, but by the beginning of October there was no longer any real doubt about the outcome of the war - the question was only when and in what manner it would finish.  It is particularly sad that  so many men, on both sides, continued to die, when there was no longer doubt as to who would win.  And then sadder still that the same circumstances arose at the end of the next war, in the early months of 1945.

640655828_July19186thSeaforthwardiarytranscripts.pdf

175708373_August19186thSeaforthsWarDiaryTranscripts.pdf

258057428_September19186thSeaforthsWarDiaryTranscripts.pdf

 

[hendersondonald]

As a bonus for tonight, I transcribed for my brothers the book published after the war by Captains RT Peel and AH Macdonald.  It only goes up to the end of 1917, and doesn't add a huge amount of factual material to what is in the war diaries, but the book perhaps offers some colour as to how the officers in the battalion thought about their experience, or at least shows how they were willing to describe those experiences in public.  One gets the sense that they are, to some degree, playing up to the expectations they think have been placed upon them.  Perhaps I do them a misjustice. 

1785122301_CampaignReminiscences-6thSeaforthHighlanders-byRTPeelandAHMacdonald.pdf

 

[Lhutch]

Thanks @hendersondonald for this amazing work! I just came across this while doing some research on a relative of my husband. He was Pte Alexander Stronach, who joined in April 1914 and was from Hopeman. He died of wounds sustained at Beaumont Hamel on Dec 2nd and is buried in Rouen (so quite far back from line). Both of his parents pre-deceased him despite the fact he was only 18 when he died. His older brother emigrated to Canada and is my husband’s great grandfather. We have his memorial penny as my husband served in the Canadian military, including a tour to Afghanistan, and the family felt it was most fitting for my husband to have it. 
We are planning a trip to France this spring both to visit Stronach’s grave and some WW1 battlefields. Obviously Beaumont-Hamel, but also Ypres/Passchendaele  and Vimy as these are the battles my husband’s unit participated in.

Wondering if you have come across any other info on Alexander Stronach or if there are any other books on the Seaforth Highlanders we should read before going. I note that he joined at age 16, would he have gone over with the first group despite being underage, or would he have been kept at home until he was 18? And is there anywhere I could find information of that sort? 
Thank you so much for your excellent work on the war dairy - I promise it has been appreciated by at least one set of eyes! 

[hendersondonald]

Hello LHutch. I’m glad the transcriptions have been of some interest. I did do Oct to Dec 1918 as well but may have forgotten to upload them. I’ll try to look them out  I’ve also been trying to pull together more information on those killed in action and died of wounds, from the Commonwealth Graves Assoc site, books published after the war, and local newspapers published during it, but I’ve been making slow progress.  I’ll see What I have for Alexander Stronach - I doubt much that will add to what you know already but it’s worth a look  

The 6th Seaforths seem to have been quite strict that 18 year olds didn’t go overseas.   Certainly my grandfather had joined the territorial battalion as a 15 year old in 1912 (as was allowed), but he didn’t get sent to France until the end of 1915 as an 18 and a half year old. 

what I don’t know is whether they were left behind, at home or at Fort George. Or whether they went as far as Bedford with the Battalion in 1914, but then stayed a few months longer until they came of age.

Was Alexander Stronach a pre war territorial as well? Have you got his medals or looked for his medal card on Ancestry or the National Archives website? If he was a pre war enlisted I think he should have got the territorial medal (but check the conditions for that - I think it was given after so many years enlisted, with overseas service counting double, but I don’t know what they did when someone was kia.  

Have you got ‘The Spirit of the Troops is Excellent’?  If not it’s a must buy. The histories that are available of the 51st Division in the First World War are also useful - the earliest ones are out of copyright and can be downloaded - check Gutenberg, they may have it there. The Division always fought as a single unit so the broader experience would have been shared by all the Brigades and Battalions. 

is a while since I looked at them, but it may also be worth looking at more detailed battalion histories of those that were alongside the 6th Seaforths in 152 Brigade or were elsewhere in the Division.  

There is a more recent divisional history as well - Engine of Destruction I think it’s called. The Campaign Reminiscences is also worth downloading via the link I posted, though it’s a very gung ho, officer-centric rendition. 

Which regiment was your husband? Was it one of these ones linked to a Scottish regiment? (A fourth cousin of mine landed on Juno and wasn’t killed on D Day itself - I believe he was the oldest allied soldier killed by enemy action on the day itself). 
best wishes

Donald 

[Lhutch]

 

1 hour ago, hendersondonald said:

Hello LHutch. I’m glad the transcriptions have been of some interest. I did do Oct to Dec 1918 as well but may have forgotten to upload them. I’ll try to look them out  I’ve also been trying to pull together more information on those killed in action and died of wounds, from the Commonwealth Graves Assoc site, books published after the war, and local newspapers published during it, but I’ve been making slow progress.  I’ll see What I have for Alexander Stronach - I doubt much that will add to what you know already but it’s worth a look  

The 6th Seaforths seem to have been quite strict that 18 year olds didn’t go overseas.   Certainly my grandfather had joined the territorial battalion as a 15 year old in 1912 (as was allowed), but he didn’t get sent to France until the end of 1915 as an 18 and a half year old. 

what I don’t know is whether they were left behind, at home or at Fort George. Or whether they went as far as Bedford with the Battalion in 1914, but then stayed a few months longer until they came of age.

Was Alexander Stronach a pre war territorial as well? Have you got his medals or looked for his medal card on Ancestry or the National Archives website? If he was a pre war enlisted I think he should have got the territorial medal (but check the conditions for that - I think it was given after so many years enlisted, with overseas service counting double, but I don’t know what they did when someone was kia.  

Have you got ‘The Spirit of the Troops is Excellent’?  If not it’s a must buy. The histories that are available of the 51st Division in the First World War are also useful - the earliest ones are out of copyright and can be downloaded - check Gutenberg, they may have it there. The Division always fought as a single unit so the broader experience would have been shared by all the Brigades and Battalions. 

is a while since I looked at them, but it may also be worth looking at more detailed battalion histories of those that were alongside the 6th Seaforths in 152 Brigade or were elsewhere in the Division.  

There is a more recent divisional history as well - Engine of Destruction I think it’s called. The Campaign Reminiscences is also worth downloading via the link I posted, though it’s a very gung ho, officer-centric rendition. 

Which regiment was your husband? Was it one of these ones linked to a Scottish regiment? (A fourth cousin of mine landed on Juno and wasn’t killed on D Day itself - I believe he was the oldest allied soldier killed by enemy action on the day itself). 
best wishes

Donald 

Thanks for the great suggestions! I will look into getting some of those. I’ve looked for his medals on ancestry and it looks like it was just the victory medal and the British. No idea who has them though - he had four siblings and they all ended up in different places (Canada v US v Scotland). 
 

My Husband was in the Calgary Highlanders, a reservist unit, but he volunteered for active service. His unit actually has the highest rate of reservists who went to Afghanistan in all of Canada. They are the perpetuation of the 10th Battallion CEF which was heavily involved in the second battle of Ypres (the first use of gas), specifically the attack on Kitchener’s Wood (Koch referred to it as “the greatest act of the war”). They were reorganized into the Calgary Highlanders between the wars. My brother-in-law currently serves with the PPCLI (Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry) as a Warrant Officer. 

[brianmorris547]

I have just been browsing the Bedfordshire Papers of 1915 to look for photographs of Officers of the Highland Division (2/5 Lancs Fusiliers). No success.

It seems that 6 Seaforths had a cartoonist in their ranks, one Stewart Knock (1932 / 265538), who was discharged to a Commission in 1916 (RFC). From January to April 1915 the Bedfordshire Times published one of his cartoons most weeks. There are also photographs of Units of the Highland Division. This cartoon is from the Bedfordshire Times 02/04/1915.

British Newspaper Library via FMP.

The edition 09/04/1915 reports on the Highland Games held in Bedford on Easter Monday. Photos of Tossing the Caber etc.

Stewart Knock's cartoons make an interesting collection.

Brian

 

Edited 14 February by brianmorris547