mrC60 Posted 17 May , 2020 Share Posted 17 May , 2020 Afternoon all. I'm a new member who'd like to find out a little more about my great grandfather Thomas Whitehill and his two brothers Cpl William Whitehill 9880 and CSM James Whitehill 7365 both of 2nd Bn A&SH. I have downloaded the battalion war diaries from the national archives from 1915 onwards and would like some pointers at where I should look further for clues regarding William. He is remembered on a memorial plaque at Ploegsteert along with 50 other men who died on 10.11.14. I have very little information on Thomas apart from a couple of photos and a letter, one posted below and one in front of the Sphinx. He may also have been invalided home from the Dardanelles. Sorry for the scetchy details. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david murdoch Posted 17 May , 2020 Share Posted 17 May , 2020 (edited) He (Thomas) was Scottish Horse Yeomanry. They served (dismounted) at Gallipoli then evacuated to Egypt. Then becoming 13th (Yeomanry Battalion) Black Watch. http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-yeomanry-regiments-of-1914-1918/the-scottish-horse/ His medal card has him as 237 S.H.Y and later 316868 Black Watch. His medal roll notes him as being 1/3rd Scottish Horse. Their mechanised scouts became 7th Light Car Patrol and taken over by the Machine Gun Corps (Motors). They continued to wear the distinct Scottish Horse bonnets. You can see the shape of his shoulder title also. Edited 17 May , 2020 by david murdoch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lang Posted 17 May , 2020 Share Posted 17 May , 2020 (edited) Welcome Paul, If you go to the National Archives - Discovery website - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ 1) create an account - logon, and 2) enter the key "WO 95 2 Argyll" (no quotes), this search will provide you with the 2nd Argyll's War Diary from 1st August 1914, in several parts. The War Diary downloads are FREE right now because of the shutdown due to the CovID-19 pandemic. Hope this helps. Kindest Regards, Tom. Edited 17 May , 2020 by Tom Lang add info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrewer Posted 17 May , 2020 Share Posted 17 May , 2020 (edited) From The Aberdeen Daily Journal, March 1st, 1915. Scottish Regimental losses.. Courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive From January 15th, 1915. Edited 17 May , 2020 by sadbrewer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrewer Posted 17 May , 2020 Share Posted 17 May , 2020 I'm not absolutely certain it's your J Whitehill.... from the Birmingham Gazette, 5th February 1913. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrC60 Posted 17 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 May , 2020 Thank you all for your responses, I'm very grateful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrewer Posted 17 May , 2020 Share Posted 17 May , 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, mrC60 said: Thank you all for your responses, I'm very grateful. Where exactly were they from? Edit....Renfrew if this article from The Scotsman refers to your William. Edited 17 May , 2020 by sadbrewer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david murdoch Posted 17 May , 2020 Share Posted 17 May , 2020 3 minutes ago, mrC60 said: Thank you all for your responses, I'm very grateful. Maybe better to start a separate thread for Thomas with tag for Scottish Horse Yeomanry. Or add to one of the several old threads regarding them. There are people with specific interest in them and separately people with an interest in 2nd Argylls. Numbers and Battalions would suggest William and James as regular soldiers and Thomas a Territorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrC60 Posted 17 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 May , 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, sadbrewer said: Where exactly were they from? Edit....Renfrew if this article from The Scotsman refers to your William. All 3 were Renfrew men, I can remember distant family members from Ardrossan. That is certainly William. I have a copy of a newspaper report which announces the death of James in 1917 as the 2nd son killed. Unfortunately I'm currently on furlough and I took the folder to work to research. Would it make sense if Thomas had been regular army and re signed as territorial? I have a memory of being told he had served on the Indian subcontinent. Sorry this is all terribly vague, I'm just starting down this journey and have no military experience myself. Edited 17 May , 2020 by mrC60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrC60 Posted 17 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 May , 2020 @Tom Lang finally managed to dl that couple of files relating to 1914, site has been very slow this afternoon. Again, many thanks for taking the trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lang Posted 18 May , 2020 Share Posted 18 May , 2020 16 hours ago, mrC60 said: @Tom Lang finally managed to dl that couple of files relating to 1914, site has been very slow this afternoon. Again, many thanks for taking the trouble. You're very welcome. I'm sure that the word FREE is a clue to why the download speeds are slow. The gurus on this forum take great comfort from anything that has no cost involved. Glad to have helped. Enjoy the journey! Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrC60 Posted 8 July , 2021 Author Share Posted 8 July , 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrC60 Posted 8 July , 2021 Author Share Posted 8 July , 2021 Found a very helpful newspaper clipping with a little more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinesheadvillage Posted 8 July , 2021 Share Posted 8 July , 2021 Hi mrC Its a poignant letter from a caring officer. I suspect that the letter was typed and hand signed, the newspaper struggling with the transcription of the signature. I can't find a record of an EHH MacMath, or indeed any officer named MacMath. The War Diary of 2nd AS&H does have a list of officers at the end of April 1917 and lists the Acting Adjutant as 2nd lieut GHA MacMillan MC. A root around reveals a full name of a 19 year old Gordon Holmes Alexander MacMillan, one of only a couple of hundred men to receive two bars to his original MC. He went on to command 51st Highland Division in a later conflict and was knighted and retired as a Lieutenant General with a CBE and a DSO. Just trying to give some colour to your relatives story, so I hope this is accurate. Kind Regards Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrC60 Posted 8 July , 2021 Author Share Posted 8 July , 2021 Many thanks for taking the trouble. The CWGC list has dod 24.4.17 but the letter 23. Is this discrepancy commonplace? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinesheadvillage Posted 8 July , 2021 Share Posted 8 July , 2021 Hi Paul The 24th is the CWGC date, but the operations in the War Diary are for the 23rd to 24th April. So I assume that the 24th is the formal date as that was, I presume, when a roll call was taken following those operations. Hopefully somebody with more experience of these discrepancies can chip in. I haven't been able to find which company James served in, but 'A' Company had been isolated and out of communication for 24 hours until the evening of the 24th, when they came in. So no formal return until the 24th was possible from them. Incidentally, this stand by 'A' Company was commended by the Corps Commander, Thomas Snow, (Courtesy of Ancestry):- Hope this helps Kind Regards Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Taylor Posted 8 July , 2021 Share Posted 8 July , 2021 Derek, You're bang on with Gordon MacMillan; you got in before me. I researched this action a while ago and got a copy of MacMillan's papers from the IWM if memory serves. He wrote the following on this action: 'After initial success of our attack on 23 April, we had moved our B HQ into the original front line. Unfortunately the Germans pushed back our forward companies. As we at Bn HQ were preparing to lead our reserve companies over the top to clear the Germans out a stonk fell on Bn HQ and I found myself to be the only one who was not a casualty...' Paul, Apologies, no real detail to help beyond background. However, Captain Arthur Henderson was awarded a posthumous VC during this action whilst cut off behind German lines after the counterattack. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/306542/ARTHUR HENDERSON/ ' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinesheadvillage Posted 12 July , 2021 Share Posted 12 July , 2021 Hi Colin Many thanks for the confirmation, its always really appreciated to have a cross check Kind Regards Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrC60 Posted 12 July , 2021 Author Share Posted 12 July , 2021 Just making my way through the war diaries. Reading the hand writing complete with abbreviations and trying to appreciate what happened and where is interesting to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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