gnr.ktrha Posted 30 November , 2005 Share Posted 30 November , 2005 Hello, I am researching the career of a 2 Lieut. in the above battalion. His name was William Johnston Cuthbert. He was born in Glasgow and attended Fettes School and the Univercity, both in Edinburgh. I have a copy of his service paper and also copies of his entries in the two above educational establishment's Rolls of honour. Do you have a copy of the unit's war diary for 25-26 Sept 1915 & 27 Feb 1916 ? or do you have any photo's of the battalion from the period of 1914-Feb 1916 ? Group officer photo's etc... Apart from the service papers, the only other infromation I have comes from the History of the 15th {Scottish} Div. So any relevent information on the Battalion would be greatly appreciated. After service with the 7th RSF, he was posted to Salonika with the 1 Garrison Bn. of the Seaforth's. Then home posted in 1918 to the 1st Garrison Bn. of the HLI. He ended up, in 1919 with the 1st Garrison Bn. of the Cheshire Regt. in Gib. After the war he moved to Fort William, as a solicitor. I understand he also graduated from Glasgow uni, but he does not appear on there Roll of honour. Thanks very much for looking. Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Bain Posted 30 November , 2005 Share Posted 30 November , 2005 Hello Stewart, if none of the pals have the info you're looking for, try the Regimental Museum of the Royal Highland Fusiliers in Sauchiehall Street Glasgow. Both the RSF and the HLI were amalgamated to form the RHF and both sets of records are there. The curator is very helpful. Yours Richard Bain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Brown Posted 30 November , 2005 Share Posted 30 November , 2005 Stewart I had a quick look in John Buchans History and there are a few pages around the dates you are looking at. I hav'nt time tonight but will more time tomorrow night to go over the section see what I can see, unless any of my learned pals beat me to it. I will post anything I come across for you. As for the War Diary's for the Battalion, I'm afraid there are none, as far as I'm aware for the 7th Batt, or for that matter the 1/5th and the 1/4th due to a fire a few years ago. Really quite difficult to gleen any info for those battalions. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPCLI Posted 1 December , 2005 Share Posted 1 December , 2005 As for the War Diary's for the Battalion A lot of RSF and HLI records were destroyed by a fire at the RHF Museum in 1985 as intimated by James. However, the war diaries are available at the National Archives: WO 95/1947 7th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1915 July - 1916 Apr 6/7th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1916 May - 1918 Jan WO 95/3017 6/7th Royal Scots Fusiliers (Pioneers), 1918 Feb - May For James: WO 95/4320 1/4th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1914 Aug - 1915 Dec 1/5th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1914 Aug - 1915 Dec WO 95/4607 1/4th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1916 Jan - 1918 Mar 1/5th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1916 Jan - 1918 Mar WO 95/2896 4th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1918 Apr - 1919 Mar 5th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1918 Apr- 1919 Apr Re: contacting the museum - I must have been unlucky. I contacted them by email (perhaps should have written snail-mail), but they were not helpful at all. However, I have been told by others that if you visit in person they are very accommodating. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnr.ktrha Posted 1 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 1 December , 2005 Hello, Thank you all for your posts. I've been to the RHF museum a couple of times, it' a pitty they do not have more room. When you consider how many battalions they had. I've never tried the curator there, but will give it a go. I have this officers documents from Kew, there are 109 pages of it! The kids will not be getting much for Christmas now that I have paid for this lot. This chap had a shell go off above his head, was knocked out cold and was then sent home with shell shock. That was at ''About 02:00 hrs on the 26th Sept. 1915.'' He returned to his Bn in December 1915, but had a German Mine go off in his position in Feb. 1916. It caused a lot of casualties in his Platoon and he broke down. His records show that he never really recovered. When he was with the 1st Gar. Seaforth Bn, in Salonika, a Airoplane droped a bomb near to him and he broke down, again. Like most of us, I would love to see a photo of this chap. Many thanks, Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compo Posted 10 December , 2005 Share Posted 10 December , 2005 (edited) See also my post on the thread titled "Royal Scots Fuliliers" Your man may have been injured at Loos by friendly fire by the premature explosion of an outgoing shell if the 2:00am time of his injury is accurate. See proximity by yards of own artillery units.The 7th did not go over the top until 5:00am and then in a follow up role. Then of course you can never disregard the odd stray shell. Regds Bill Disregard, I just noticed you said 2:00am on the 26th, the following day! Edited 10 December , 2005 by Compo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper Will Posted 10 December , 2005 Share Posted 10 December , 2005 Wasn't this the battalion that Winston Churchill commanded? He was a prolific writer and I'm willing to bet he wrote magazine articles on his service with the 7th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compo Posted 12 December , 2005 Share Posted 12 December , 2005 Wasn't this the battalion that Winston Churchill commanded? He was a prolific writer and I'm willing to bet he wrote magazine articles on his service with the 7th. Lt. Col W. Churchill commanded 6th Battalion RSF in 1915. Regds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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