Interesting War Facts

The Electoral Roll, Queensferry, and the 1918 General Election.

1/12/2019

World War I was to bring about many social changes for both men and women.

Image with permission from www.SuffragetteLife.co.uk

With a General Election this month, it might be interesting to have a look back at 1918.

The Courier archives tell of the striking increase of numbers in the electorate in Linlithgowshire. They report that the increase is caused by the Representation of the People Act, which was passed in 1918. (More on that at the end).
The Royal Burgh of Queensferry, (1636-1975), was within the County of Linlithgowshire in 1918. The County of Linlithgowshire became the County of West Lothian during the years 1921 – 1927. It took time for the transition to finalise. (Unfortunately, Queensferry lost its Royal Burgh status when it became part of Edinburgh District in 1975).

The draft roll for electors in the county of Linlithgowshire for 1918 was 34,617 as compared with 13,828 for the year 1914 – 1915. (the transition period of ‘Linlithgowshire’ to the ‘County of West Lothian’ was during the years 1921 - 1927).

The numbers returned, in 1918, for the respective Parishes were:-
Abercorn – 433
Bathgate – 7,696
Bo’ness and Carriden – 5,580
Dalmeny (of whom Queensferry was a district) – 1,629
Ecclesmachan – 610
Kirkliston – 1,590
Linlithgow – 3,205
Livingston – 1,772
Torphichen – 2,418
Uphall – 5,653
Whitburn – 4,031

Burghs with comparison of 1914-15 Parliamentary roll:-
1918 1914-15
Linlithgow – 1807 633
Queensferry - 905 342
Bathgate - 3687 1470
Bo’ness - 4320 1824
Armadale - 1923 816
Whitburn 790 357

Changes in the electorate numbers mainly occur due to three reasons:
· A change in size of the population who are entitled to vote. This change can be brought about by migration to or from an area, people becoming old enough to vote in a given election, and deaths.
· A change in the proportion of the eligible population who actually register to vote as a result, for example, of better canvassing or an increased public interest in the political landscape.
· Changes in definitions of eligibility. For example, in 2015 the minimum voting age for Scottish Parliament and Local Government elections was lowered to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote.

Commemorative Coin

The Representation of the People Act 1918.
In our February 2016 Archives for “Interesting War Facts” we gave information on Scottish Suffragettes. We now take this further, with the “Representation of the People Act 1918” (The Fourth Reform Act)..
Prior to this act, restrictive qualifications meant only 58% of the adult male population were eligible to vote before 1918. Only men who were leaseholders and had been resident in the country for 12 months prior to a general election were entitled to vote. This effectively disqualified millions of returning troops who had been serving overseas in the war.
With a general election imminent, politicians were persuaded to extend the vote to all men over the age of 21, with no restrictions, even allowing men in the armed forces to vote from the age of 19.

In recognition of the efforts of the Suffrage Movement, who had been battling for electoral equality for over 50 years, and the work that women undertook for the war effort, women over the age of 30, who were householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5, or graduates of British universities, were granted voting rights. (Having money was a vital requirement it seems).

Although 8.5 million individuals met the criteria, it only represented 40% of the total population of women in the UK. (The age was restricted to 30 as there was a fear that the eligible women to vote would outnumber the men and this could not be allowed!)

The Act also instituted the present system of holding general elections on one day and brought in the annual electoral register. These changes saw the size of the electorate triple from 7.7 million to 21.4 million. Women now accounted for around 43% of the electorate but there was still huge inequality between women and men.

The General Election was held on 14th December 1918 with a 57.2% turn out. It was a landslide victory for the coalition government of David Lloyd George.

In the General Election on December 14th, 1918, women, for the first time, exercised the vote for which they had fought for years. In this election which returned a Coalition government, women over 30 were on the register. Image - Queensferry History Group Collection

It was not until the Parliament “Qualification of Women Act 1918” that women over the age of 21 were given the right to stand for election as an Member of Parliament, (although once elected, their treatment by the men was appalling). It did not alter the minimum age for a woman to vote in an election.
The Equal Franchise Act of 1928 gave women over 21 the right to vote and women finally achieved the same voting rights as men. This act increased the number of women eligible to vote to 15 million.
In 2015, in Scotland, the minimum voting age for Scottish Parliament and Local Government elections was lowered to allow teenagers aged 16 years and 17 years, to vote. More than 100,000 were registered to vote. They are not permitted to vote in General Elections.

© Queensferry History Group 2019

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World War 2 Looming, Nicolas Winton, Kindertransport and Queensferry.

1/5/2019

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Nicholas Winton was born with the surname Wertheim, in London, 19th May, 1909, of German/Jewish parents. He died aged 106, on 1st July 2015.
In 2003, Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for "services to humanity”, in saving Jewish children from Nazi Germany occupied Czechoslovakia.
(The following information comes from Queensferry Gazette archives and also www.independent.co.uk
www.powerofgood.net/story.php
www.theholocaustexplained.org, wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Winton,
also old Queensferry School Records as recorded by Dr John Mason, Headmaster).

Nicholas Winton in Prague 2007. Image: Reproduced under Wikimedia Creative Commons License.

Just before the start of the Second World War, Nicholas Winton rescued 669 children from Czechoslovakia, most of them Jewish, from their doomed fate in the Nazi death camps. The world found out about his work over 50 years later, in 1988 when his wife found an old briefcase in the attic, and found lists of children and letters from their parents. He hadn’t even told her of his role in the war. He featured on “That’s Life” a programme hosted by Esther Rantzen in 1988.

Nicholas was reunited with some of his "Children" on the "That's Life" programme. Image: nicolaswinton.com

How it Began for Nicolas Winton

In 1938, aged 29, Winton, a Stockbroker, received a phone call from his friend Martin Blake, who was in Prague as an associate of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia, then in the process of being occupied by Germany, asking him to cancel his skiing holiday and immediately come to Prague: "I have a most interesting assignment and I need your help. Don't bother bringing your skis." When Winton arrived, he was asked to help in the camps, in which thousands of refugees were living in appalling conditions. He was only there for a few months but was alarmed by the numbers of refugees arriving, endangered by the imminent Nazi invasion.

Nicholas with child refugee Hansi Beck who sadly later died from an inner ear infection. Image: from http://www.barbarawinton.co.uk

He recognised the advancing danger and he courageously decided to try to get the children outside the reach of Nazi power. He began to organise the rescue of Czech Jewish children. Winton built up biographies of children whose parents had asked him to take them to safety. He placed advertisements of these children in England seeking families to take them in.
He persuaded the Home Office to let the children in, but they would only take unaccompanied children, under the age of 17 years. For each child he had to find a foster parent and a £50 guarantee to be deposited at the Home Office, in those days a small fortune, to pay for their eventual return home. The assumption the children would be able to return home to their families on mainland Europe when the violence had blown over would ultimately prove a tragic underestimation of the Nazi threat.

Between March and August 1939, Winton sent eight train loads of children to safety in Britain. Once in England they were placed with the families that had pledged their support. The last train load of children left on August 2, 1939, bringing the total of rescued children to 669. It is impossible to imagine the emotions of parents sending their children to safety, knowing they may never be reunited, and impossible to imagine the fears of the children leaving the lives they knew and their loved ones for the unknown.
A final train carrying 251 children was due to leave Prague on 1 September 1939. It never left the station. The German army had invaded Poland and Germany had closed all borders. World War 2 had begun. The children got off the train and returned to their parents. Many were subsequently murdered in the Holocaust. Only two survived the war.

Arrival of Jewish refugees, London Great Britain: The children of Polish Jews from the region between Germany and Poland on their arrival in London on the "Warsaw". Photographed February 1939. Image: Reproduced under Wikimedia Creative Commons License.

"OPERATION KINDERTRANSPORT"

The word ‘Kindertransport' is used to describe the large scale transportation by train of thousands of endangered, mostly Jewish, children from Austria and Germany to Great Britain in 1938 and 1939 (Kinder means children in German). The same term became used for the Czech and Slovak rescue of endangered children which was organised in 1939 by Nicholas Winton with the help of Trevor Chadwick and other volunteers both in Prague and London.
This action was initiated in response to Kristallnacht (“the Night of the Broken Glass”), which saw 267 synagogues razed, 91 Jews murdered and 30,000 people rounded up to be taken to Nazi concentration camps on the night of 9 November 1938.
On December 2nd, 1938, Jewish and Christian agencies began a huge humanitarian undertaking rescuing German and Austrian Jewish children on Kindertransporten (children's transports). The "Refugee Children's Movement," a group under the auspices of the Central British Fund for German Jewry or CBF (which later became the World Jewish Relief organization), urged concerned Christians and Jews to support "Operation Kindertransport."
An extensive fund-raising effort was organized and the British public responded generously, raising half a million British pounds in six months. A large portion of this money was used to care for the children who were rescued.
Between December 1938 and May 1940, almost 10,000 Jewish children (infants to teenagers) from Germany and Austria were rescued from certain death in the Holocaust and given shelter at farms, hostels, camps, and in private homes in Britain. Altogether some 60,000 Jewish refugees arrived in Britain seeking asylum, with around 50,000 settling permanently and the remainder subsequently relocating to North America, Australia or the newly formed state of Israel.

Kindertransport monument at Liverpool Street Station. A project established by the Association of Jewish Refugees, it pays tribute to those Britons who aided the rescue of 10,000 Jewish children from the Nazi persecution which led onto the holocaust. Image: Reproduced under Wikimedia Creative Commons License.

Nicolas Winton worked independently of "Operation Kindertransport", setting up his own rescue operation. He received many acknowledgements for his humanitarian work. He also received a ring given to him by some of the children inscribed with a line from the Talmud, the book of Jewish Law, it said, “Save one life, save the World”. Rescued children, many of the Grandparents, still refer to themselves as “Winton’s Children”.

Memorial of Nicholas Winton, the saviour of 669 jewish children from former Czechoslovakia; located in Prague Main railway station, installed 2009-SEP-01, sculptor Flor Kent (her other sculpture “Für Das Kind Kindertransport Memorial” was installed in the Liverpool Street station, September 2003). Image: reproduced under Wikimedia Creative Commons License.

So What is Queensferry’s Connection?

While there were already some Czech refugee families in Queensferry, a total of 21 children aged up to 17 years, either through Nicholas Winton, or "Kindertransport", came to Queensferry from Czechoslovakia, in April 1939, on route to Canada, perhaps via the "Scottish Childrens Council for Refugees", Edinburgh.
The children were given accommodation at Butlaw, the former WWI Naval Hospital at Port Edgar, (which was turned into a holiday camp for unemployed families, mainly from the West, after the war,) and they enrolled into Queensferry School on April 19th.
The headmaster, Dr Mason (who founded Queensferry Museum) undertook the education of all but the infants, as he had some knowledge of the German language. Miss Graham was in charge of the infant division. Friendships were built with the local people who helped where needed, entertained and even issued invites to tea.
It was noted in the records that the Czech children were learning wonderfully well. The director of education examined the children and he expressed appreciation at the work done by the children.

Butlaw Naval Hospital - Image: © Queensferry History Group

As an expression of their gratitude, and with the help of local refugees, one named Mr Wurzl, (who was befriended by a local family), the children built a model of the outlook tower at Schonfeld near Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia, in the school garden. It is believed it may have been destroyed when Queensferry Primary School was built on the grounds. However it is also may have been lifted and transferred to the garden of the Janitor. Its whereabouts today are unknown.

Top images, Herr Wurzl with the tower and wording on the reverse of the photo, reproduced with kind permission of the owner. Bottom image - The model Tower. Image: © Queensferry History Group

On May 6th the school records say “a casket, containing a scroll and some Czech and British coins, was built into the model today”.
May 12th: “The model in school garden finished today. A medal and an address in German were presented to the builder, in presence of the pupils of advanced division and Czech children”.
May 16th: “Some Czech children visited Edinburgh today, the headmaster was present with them”.
May 20th: “Some children left for Canada today”.
May 25th: “Five Czech children taken to Broxburn School for dental treatment”
June 5th: “Some Czech children left for Culloden House, Inverness”.

It is unknown what happened to most of these children. The intention was they would be returned home after the war, but this was impossible. Many of the parents perished in the concentration camps. Some of the children stayed on in Canada and have family there now.
A few of the Adult refugees who went to Canada, kept in touch with the families who befriended them in Queensferry.

© Queensferry History Group 2019

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Brief History of the Royal Air Force - 1st April 2018 - Centenery!

1/4/2018

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1st April 2018 is the Centenary of the Royal Air Force.

Let us look at how the Royal Air Force were formed

Royal/Naval Air Service

A formal Naval Air Service seaplane base was established in Kent, and in 1913, aircraft from the Naval Air Service took part in naval manoeuvres for the first time with ships from the Royal Navy. ‘HMS Hermes’ was used as a seaplane carrier. The Naval Air Service also used airships and these were based at Kingsnorth, Kent, near the seaplane base.

A view of Mudros Harbour with a British naval airship passing overhead. © IWM (Q 13483)

The Naval Air Service became the Royal Naval Air Service on July 1st 1914 and became the naval wing of the Royal Flying Corps. It became independent of the Royal Flying Corps on August 1st, 1915, when the Royal Naval Air Service was put under the sole control of the Royal Navy. By the time World War One had broken out, the Royal Naval Air Service was equipped with 93 aircraft, six airships and had a staff of 720. The airships were based around the British coast during the war to give forewarning of any approaching enemy ships and submarines.

Seaplanes being ready to be sent off on submarine patrol. © IWM (Q 73675)

The Royal Naval Air Service aircraft patrolled the UK’s coastline and for a short time they were given the task of defending London from Bombers and Zeppelins. Attacks on German coastal positions in Belgium were not unknown and there were also two squadrons fighting on the Western Front.

Zeppelin over London, Image Wikimedia Commons

Naval Air Service pilots took part in some daring raids against the Germans. On Christmas Day 1914, the RNAS attacked German Zeppelin bases at Cuxhaven and Wilhelmshaven. During the Gallipoli campaign a Royal Naval Air Service pilot, Flight Commander C Edmonds, attacked a Turkish ship with a torpedo slung underneath his aircraft. The ship was sunk. Edmonds attacked, flying just 15 feet above the waves.
The growth of the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I was huge. At the start of the war, the RNAS had a total of 720 personnel attached to it. By the time of its amalgamation with the Royal Flying Corps towards the end of the war, it had personnel of 55,000. 93 aircraft had grown to just under 3,000 and 6 airships had become 103.

Painting of HMS Vulcan - Royal Navy Submarine Depot ship and Airship SSZ 59,by permission of the artist Jim Rae. Below, Rosyth 1917 by the same artist.

Royal Flying Corps

image - Wikimedia Commons

On 1 April 1918, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service were amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force.
During the early part of the war, the Royal Flying Corps supported the British Army by artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance. This work gradually led Royal Flying Corps pilots into aerial battles with German pilots and later included the strafing of enemy infantry and emplacements, the bombing of German military airfields and the strategic bombing of German industrial and transportation facilities. The Royal Flying Corps was also responsible for the manning and operation of observation balloons on the Western Front.

Balloon ready for a flight at Farnborough Naval Wing, Royal Flying Corps. © IWM (Q 73750)

Throughout the whole of the Somme campaign, (July-November 1916), the Royal Flying Corps lost 800 aeroplanes with 252 crew killed.
To support the Battle of Arras, beginning on 9th April 1917, the Royal Flying Corps deployed 25 squadrons, totalling 365 aircraft, a third of which were fighters. The British lost 245 aircraft with 211 aircrew killed or missing and 108 taken as prisoners of war.
During the Battle of Messines in June 1917, they were ordered to fly low over the lines and strafe all available targets.
By the summer of 1917, the introduction of the next generation of technically advanced combat aircraft (such as the SE5, Sopwith Camel and Bristol Fighter) ensured losses fell and damage inflicted on the enemy increased.
Techniques for Army and Royal Flying Corps co-operation quickly evolved and improved during the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele).

A crew member of an SS 'Z' Class airship about to throw a bomb from the rear cockpit of the gondola. © IWM (Q 67695)

Close support and battlefield co-operation tactics with the British Army were further developed by November 1917, when low-flying fighter aircraft
co-operated highly effectively with advancing columns of tanks and infantry during the Battle of Cambrai.
In 1917, 2,094 of the Royal Flying Corps aircrew were killed or missing, in action.

Air mechanics of the 149th Night Bombing Squadron detonating bombs to be dropped in one night. Aerodrome near St. Omer, 18 July 1918. © IWM (Q 12089)

Royal Air Force

When on 1st April 1918, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service amalgamated to form the ‘Royal Air Force’, under the control of a new Air Ministry, they became, at that time, the largest Air Force in the World.
After starting in 1914 with some 2,073 personnel by the start of 1919 the RAF had 4,000 combat aircraft and 114,000 personnel.
During World War One, the RFC, RNAS and RAF lost a total of 9,378 men with 7,245 wounded. Some 900,000 flying hours were logged for the duration of the war and just under 7,000 ton of bombs had been dropped on enemy positions.

Captain Albert Ball 1896 - 1917 - image Wikimedia Pubic Domain

Distinguished Flying Cross, typical of that awarded to Gordon Metcalf Duncan, Edinburgh born pilot. - Image - charliesmedals.co.uk

Eleven members of the RFC were awarded the Victoria Cross and some of these pilots became household names -
just two few examples being – Albert Ball, 1896 – 1917, (at the time of his death in May 1917, he was the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, with 44 victories) and James McCudden,1895 –1918, (an English flying ace who received more awards for gallantry than any other airman of British nationality serving in the First World War. He was also one of the longest serving.
Among the few Scottish Flying aces were Gordon Metcalfe Duncan DFC, 1899 – 1941. Born in Edinburgh, he joined the Royal Flying Corps aged 18, in 1917 and left in June 1919 after being transferred to the unemployment list. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 3 December 1918, his citation reading :
“Lieutenant Gordon Metcalfe Duncan. A courageous fighter and skilful leader who has accounted for seven enemy aeroplanes. On 5 September 1918, when on escort duty, he attacked a formation of five Fokker biplanes; one of these he engaged at close range and it was seen to break up in the air; he then drove down a second, out of control”.
Also Major John Inglis Gilmour, DSO, MC & Two Bars, 1896 – 1928, born in Helensburgh, Dumbartonshire, was the highest scoring Scotsman in the Royal Flying Corps, with 39 victories.

Battles of Ypres 1917. A Sopwith Camel biplane with its nose buried in the ground after being forced down, 26th September. © IWM (Q 7784)

Local Connection with Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force.

Second Lieutenant Philip Charles Westhofen of the 4th Squadron Royal Air Force, enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps, towards the end of the war. He was first reported ‘missing’ on 12th April 1918 then listed as ‘killed in action’ on the same day, aged 19. This was just a few days after the Royal Air Force was formed, on 1st April, with the union of The Royal Naval Air Service and The Royal Flying Corps. Philip is commemorated on the Arras Flying Services Memorial, Pas-de-Calais, France.

Arras Flying Services Memorial, France. Image - Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Image - Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Philips mother, Alexandra Primrose Glendinning, was born in Leuchold, Dalmeny Park, in 1863. Her father, Peter Glendinning was the Dalmeny Estate Factor.
She married Wilhelm Westhofen in Leuchold in 1887. He was aged 44 and living in Forth View House, Dalmeny, she was aged 23 and living in Leuchold.

Leuchold - source of image unknown

Philips father, Wilhelm, was born in Mainz, Germany, in 1842. He became a Naturalised British Citizen while resident in Middlesex, in 1872. He was a member of the British Institute of Civil Engineers and was Assistant Engineer for the Forth Rail Bridge works, with responsibility for foundations and pier building and for the construction of the central 'Inchgarvie' cantilever. In 1890 he wrote an invaluable and comprehensive account of the design and construction of the bridge.

Forth RailBridge, image - historytoday.com

Philip had two older sisters, Evelyn, born in East Terrace, Queensferry, in 1888 and Wilhelmina, born in East Terrace in 1889.
After the Forth Rail Bridge was finished, the family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1891, so Wilhelm could supervise construction of the Gouritz River Bridge, (then one of the longest and highest in South Africa, work began to replace the old bridge in 1972). In 1892 he was appointed as engineer in the Public Works Department of the Cape Colony, a position he held until he retired on pension in 1904.

SS Windsor Castle at Cape Town South Africa, c 1922. Image - Wikimedia Public Domain

Philip was born in Cape Town 19th March 1899, following two more siblings born in Cape Town, Arthur, 1893 and Mary, 1897. His father died in Cape Town in 1925 aged 83 and his mother returned to Scotland in 1930 on the “Windsor Castle”. She died in North Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, in 1931 aged 67.

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World War 1 Timeline 1914-1918 - (1918)

31/1/2018

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7th March – Trotsky signs peace treaty with Germany at Brest-Litovsk.
23rd March – Germans use new Storm Trooper assault teams west of St Quentin, taking 16,000 british prisoners.
23rd March – Artillery bombardment at Paris.

23rd March – German assaults reach the Somme line. The greatest air battle of the War takes place with 70 aircraft involved. Both Queensferry and Dalmeny lost 3 men each here.

26th March – French Marshall Foch becomes Supreme Commander of all allied forces.

© IWM (Q 7180) Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, and Field Marshal Douglas Haig, the C-in-C of the British Army, after the inspection of the Guard of Honour of the C Company, 6th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders at Iwuy, 15 November 1918.

1st April – Royal Air Force founded by combining Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service.
21st April – Legendary German ace Manfred Von Richtofen, known as the Red Baron is shot down and killed.

© IWM (Q 379)General Ludendorff pays a visit of inspection to Baron von Richthofen's "Circus" at Mercke Aerodrome. On the right are pilots drawn up for presentation and, in the distance Richthofen's Albatross, "The Red Fighter".

10th May – British launch a raid on Ostend. HMS Vindictive scuttled. German cruisers are no longer able to use the Port.

19th May – German Air Force launches its largest and last air raid on London. 49 civilians are killed and 177 , wounded.

15th July – Start of collapse of German Army at second Battle of the Marne.
17th July – Russian Tsar and his family shot by Bolsheviks.
8th August – Second battle of Amiens. German resistance is sporadic and thousands surrender.
27th September – The Great British Offensive on the Cambrian front leads to the storming of the Hindenburg Line. Queensferry lost 1 man here.
30th September – British and Allied troops take Damascus, capturing 7,000 prisoners and securing stability in the Middle East.
4th October - Germany asks allies for an armistice.
17th October – The whole of the Channel Coast in the West of Flanders is liberated.
20th October – Germany suspends submarine warfare.

© IWM (Q 20220) The crew of a German UC-1 class submarine on deck. Introduced in 1915, the submarines of this class were employed mainly on minelaying duties and carried up to twelve mines. German submarines sank 1,845,000 tons of Allied and neutral shipping between February and April 1917.

29th October – Sailors aboard the German High Seas Fleet at Jade, Northern Germany, mutiny and refuse to engage the British Fleet.
30th October – The Turkish army surrenders to the British in Mesopotamia. Turkey signs an armistice treaty with the allies. Queensferry's Robert Fossett died of pneumonia, here on 24th October just before the armistice was signed.
8th November – Armistice negotiations between allies and Germany begin in Ferdinand Foch's railway carriage H.Q.

Armistice Train - Wikimedia Commons

9th November – Germany's Kaizer William II abdicates.

11th November – Germany signs armistice at 6am, fighting ends at 11 am.

© IWM (Art.IWM ART 4208) image: A view inside a large ornately decorated room in the palace at Versailles, with senior military personnel and politicians sitting around a large rectangular table. Other military personnel sit at smaller tables that circle the large table. A large chandelier hangs from the ceiling and there is a painting on the wall to the left.

11th November – At 10.15 am American Private Henry Gunther is killed - the last soldier to die in action on the Western front. Dalmeny lost John Livingston, aged 23, in Archangel, Russia on same day.
21st November – 9 German Battleships, 5 Battle Cruisers, 7 Cruisers and 49 Destroyers arrive at Rosyth to surrender.

12th December – The British Cavalry cross the Rhine and begin occupation of Cologne.

Timeline - Sunday Post Centenary Supplement
© Queensferry History Group 2016

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World War 1 Timeline 1914-1918 - (1917)

31/1/2018

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16th January 1917 – German Foreign Secretary proposes alliance with Mexico against the USA.
31st January – Germany continues with unrestricted submarine warfare, hoping to starve Britain into submission. image
3rd February – The USA severs diplomatic relations with Germany as U Boats threaten US shipping.
23rd February – Germany begins its withdrawal to Hindenburg Line.
15th March – Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicates.
26th March – First battle of Gaza, Palestine, as British attempt to cut off the Turkish in Mesopotamia, from their homeland. Queensferry lost one man here in trench warfare after the Battle of Gaza
6th April – USA declares war on Germany. Troops begin to mobilise immediately.
9th April – Second battle of Arras begins. British successfully employ new tactics of creeping Barages. Queensferry lost 4 men here and dalmeny lost2 men.
12th April – Canadian victory in the battle of Vimy Ridge.
7th June – The Battle of Messines Ridge, 19 mines detonated under German lines. Explosions are heard from England.
13th June – First successful heavy bomber raid on London killing 162.

London Bombed - Wikimedia Commons

25th June – First American troops land in France.
31st June – Battle of Passchendaele begins.
17th July – Royal Family adopt name of House of Windsor.
28th July – Formation of Royal tank Corps.
15th August – Battle of Hill 70. Canadians take hill, only 15 feet higher than surrounding land, but allies lose 9,200 men.
9th October – Third phase of the Ypres Offensive (Passchendaele) begins with rain falling on saturated ground. Battlefield turns into a quagmire. Queensferry lost 5 men here and Dalmeny lost 5 men .

Ypres - Wikimedia Commons

15th October – Dutch spy Mata Hari executed in Paris. (Margaretha Geertruida "Margreet" MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 1876 – 15 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch Frisian exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy.)

Mata Hari - Wikimedia Commons

15th October – The last airship raid on Britain is carried out by 112 zeppelins

image - Wikimedia Commons

2nd November – British Government supports plan for Jewish homeland in Palestine in Balfour Declaration.
10th November – Battle of Passchendaele ends. Allies have advanced only 5 miles, half a million men are casualties.
17th November – Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.
20th November – The Battle of Cambrai begins. Royal flying Corps drop bombs on German anti-tank guns. Queensferry lost 3 men here.

German anti tank guns - Wikimedia Commons

Royal Flying Corps - Wikimedia Commons

11th December – Britain liberates Jerusalem ending 673 years of Turkish Rule.
23rd December – Russian Armistice with Germany.

Timeline - Sunday Post Centenary Supplement
© Queensferry History Group 2016

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World War 1 Timeline 1914-1918 - (1916)

31/1/2018

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Gallipoli - image http://www.anzacday.org.au/

8th January 1916- Gallipoli Campaign ends with evacuation from Helles.
27th January – Conscription introduced in the UK.
29th January – British first tested tanks in Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

Verdun - image http://www.freeinfosociety.com/

21st February – Battle of Verdun begins. The battle lasts 10 months and more than one million men become casualties.
28th March – Women's Army Auxillary Corps founded.
2nd April – Zeppelin raid on Edinburgh, 13 die, 24 wounded.

Zeppelin over Edinburgh 1916. Image with permission from http://lzdream.net/dirigeables/zeppelin

5th April – The Battle of Kut. The final allied attempt to relieve Kut in Mesopotamia flounders in the mud along the River Tigris.
24th April – Easter rising in Dublin against British Rule.
29th April – Besieged allied forces surrender to Turkish forces at Kut after 143 days -9,000 British and Indian troops captured.
31st May – Battle of Jutland begins. The German fleet ends up irreparably damaged for the rest of the War.

Battle of Jutland. image- Queensferry History Group

5th June – T E Lawrence – Laurence of Arabia aids Grand Sharif of Mecca in the Arab revolts against the Turks in Hejaz.
5th June – HMS Hampshire sunk off Orkney Islands. Lord Kitchener is lost along with 643 crewmen.

HMS Hampshire. Image courtesy of World Naval Ship Forum.

1st July – Battle of the Somme sees 750,000 allied soldiers in action. In one day 60,000 are dead, wounded or missing. Of 1916 Deaths, Queensferry lost 12/18 men here, and Dalmeny lost 4/5 men here.
27th August – Italy declares war on Germany.
2nd September – First German airships shot down over Hertfordshire.
15th September – First mass use of tanks at Somme.

Mark 1 Tank, image -www.longlongtrail.co.uk

18th November – Battle of Somme ends. More than 1.5 million men were killed, wounded or listed as missing.
21st November – HMS Brittanic, sister ship of HMS Titanic, sinks after hitting a German mine.

HMS Britanic, courtesy of Artist Ken Marschall

25th November – John Jellico becomes first Lord of the Sea.
5th December - Henry Asquith resigns as Prime minister.
7th December – David Lloyd George becomes Prime minister.
12th December – Germany delivers Peace Note to allies suggesting compromise.
18th December – The Battle of Verdun ends. It is the longest and costliest battle on the western front.

Timeline - Sunday Post Centenary Supplement
© Queensferry History Group 2016

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World War 1 Timeline 1914-1918 - (1915)

31/1/2018

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During 1915, Queensferry lost 10 men and Dalmeny lost 8 men.
Queensferry lost 1 man during winter operations in January and Dalmeny lost 1 man.

January 19th 1915 – First airborne attack on Britain saw bombs dropped Zeppelins on Great Yarmouth, killing 5 civilians.
February 4th – Germans begin using submarines against merchant vessels.
February 18th – Blockade of Britain by German U -B oats begins. All vessels are considered viable targets.
February 19th – The Gallipoli Campaign begins. March 10th - The British offensive at Neuve Chapelle begins. Allied losses amount to 12,8000 in 2 days. Queensferry lost 4 men here, September, June and 2 on way to Gallipoli in August and Dalmeny lost 1 man in September
April 22nd – Start of Second battle of Ypres in which Germany first used Poison Gas. Queensferry lost 3 men here in April and Dalmeny lost 2 men 1 in April and 1 in May.
April 23rd – Poet Rupert Brooke died of blood poisoning on way to the Dardenelles.
April 25th – Allied landings at Gallipoli, 70,000 British, Commonwealth and French troops come under heavy fire.
May 7th – British liner Lusitania is sunk by a German U-Boat.

HMS Lusitania - ramdumbuzz.com

May 23rd – Italy declares war on Germany and Austria.
May 25th – The 'Shell Crisis' exposes the failings of the government. Discontent over rising casualty figures grows. (The Shell Crisis of 1915 was a shortage of artillery shells on the front lines of World War I that led to a political crisis in Britain.)
May 30th – First Air raid on London kills 7.
June 9th – British troops in France first issued with hand grenades.
June 30th - German Troops use flame throwers for the first time against the British Lines at Hooge, Ypres.
August 16th – A U Boat bombards Whitehaven proving Britains defences can be breached by German Submarines
September 6th – First tank "Little Willie" trialed.

– Little Willie Tank Little Willie in Bovington Museum -image CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikipedia)

September 8th – Tsar Nicholas 2 personally takes command of Russian Army.
September 25th – At the battle of Loos, the British use Gas for the first time but it blows back over their own troops with 2,632 casualties. Queensferrry lost 2 men as a result of this battle in October and November, Dalmeny lost 4 men, 3 in September and 1 in October
September 27th – British and Canadian Regiments take Hill 70 at loos and break the German Line, but can't exploit the breach.
October 12th – British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by German firing squad for helping allied troops escape from Belgium.
October 31st – Steel helmets introduced on the British front.
December 19th – Douglas Haig replaces John French as Commander of the British Expeditionary Force.
December 20th – Allies complete the evacuation of 83,000 troops from Suvia Bay and ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli. No one is killed.
© Queensferry History Group 2015

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World War 1 Timeline 1914-1918 - (1914)

31/1/2018

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During 1914, Queensferry lost 5 men, Dalmeny lost 3 men and one of those is also on the Queensferry Memorial.

June 28th 1914 – Assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Bosnian Serb Gaurilo Princip.
July 28th – Austria- Hungary declares war on Serbia.
August 1st – Germany declares war on Russia.
August 3rd – Germany declares war on France.
August 4th – United Kingdom declare war on Germany.
August 4th – United Stated declares neutrality.
August 6th – Cruiser HMS Amphia sunk by German mines in North Sea with loss of 150 men, first British casualties of the War.
August 7th – British Expeditionary Force arrives in France.
August 11th – "Your Country Needs You" slogan is published calling for 100,000 men to enlist in Kitcheners 'New Army'.
August 13th – The first squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps arrive in France.
August 23rd – British Expeditionary Force starts its retreat from Mons. The Angel of Mons is born. (The Angels of Mons is a popular legend about a group of angels who supposedly protected members of the British Army in the Battle of Mons at the outset of World War I.) (Queensferry lost 2 men here, Dalmeny lost 2 men).
August 25th – The Royal Flying Corps claim their first 'kill' as aircraft from 2nd squadron force down a German plane.
August 28th – Royal Navy wins first battle of Helligoland Bight in the North Sea.
September 26th – Battle of the Marne checks German advance with 13,000 British, 250,000 French and 250,000 German casualties.
October 1st - The first battle of Arras, an attempt by the French to stop the Germans reaching the English Channel.
October 16th – The British Indian Expeditionary Force sails from Bombay to the Persian Gulf for the defence of Mesopotamia.
October 18th – First battle of Ypres. (Queensferry lost 3 men here and Dalmeny lost 1 man).
October 29th – Turkey enters the war.
November 2nd – The UK begins naval blockade of Germany.
22nd November – Trenches are established along the entire Western Front.
December 8th – Battle of the Falklands, Royal Navy defeats Von Spere's German Cruiser Squadron.
December 16th – German Fleet shells Scarborough and Hartlepool, killing 137 civilians.
December 24/25th – In parts of the Western Front an unofficial truce is observed between British and German forces.

Timeline - Sunday Post Centenary Supplement
© Queensferry History Group 2015

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Quintinshill Rail Disaster-1915

1/5/2016

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On 22nd May 1915 there was a huge rail disaster at Quintinhill, near Gretna involving a troop train, a local train and the Glasgow Express. Only half the soldiers on the troop train survived. Those killed were mainly Territorial soldiers from the A & D company of the 1/7th (Leith) Battalion, the Royal Scots, part of the 52nd Lowland Division, while on route to Liverpool from Larbert, Stirlingshire, heading for Gallipoli. 210 men were killed and 224 injured, forming the majority of the 473 casualties of the worst disaster in British railway history. The precise number of dead was never established with confidence as the regiment’s roll was destroyed by the fire.

image https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4459972

The soldiers were buried together in a mass grave in Edinburgh's Rosebank Cemetery, where an annual remembrance service is held. The Memorial, unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery, Honorary Colonel of the Battalion, on 12 May 1916, takes the form of a Celtic cross, standing 15ft 6ins, made from Peterhead granite with an inscription and an explanatory plaque to the front and shields, bearing the Regimental Badge and Leith Burgh Coat-of-Arms, one on each side.

Wikimedia Commons

The official inquiry, convened 3 days after the crash and completed on 17 June 1915, found a number of serious failings in procedure which, when combined, led to the disaster. The worst of these was the failure of the two signalmen on duty in the Quintinshill Box, now demolished, but which then immediately overlooked the crash site, to alert the troop-train to the local passenger train waiting in its path. Both signalmen were subsequently charged, appeared before the High Court in Edinburgh on 24 September, found guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced to periods of imprisonment, one of them with hard labour.

Illustrated London News -Wikipedia

With both loops occupied, the northbound local train had been reversed onto the southbound line to allow passage of the late running northbound Glasgow Express Its presence was then overlooked, and the southbound troop train was cleared for passage. It collided head on with the local passenger train.
Normally the local train would have been held in one of the loops at Quintinshill but both of these were already occupied by goods trains. The troop train overturned, mostly onto the neighbouring north-bound mainline track and, a minute later, the Glasgow-bound express ploughed into the wreckage causing it to burst into flame. The ferocity of the fire, and consequent difficulty of rescuing those trapped in the overturned and mangled carriages, was compounded by the fact that most of the carriages were very old, made of wood and lit by gas which was stored in reservoirs slung under the carriages. These ruptured, the escaping gas igniting from the coal burning fires of the engines. The gas reservoirs of the troop train had been filled before leaving Larbert and this, and the lack of available water, meant it was not until the morning of the next day that the fire was extinguished — despite the best efforts of railway staff and the Carlisle fire brigade.

Artists impression of the Glasgow Express about to crash into the wreckage -http://www.theroyalscots.co.uk/page/the-quintinshill-gretna-train-crash-22-may-1915

The troop train consisted of 21 carriages, and apart from the rear six which had broken away during the impact and rolled back along the line a short distance, the entire train was consumed in the fire, as were four coaches from the express train and some goods wagons.
All four locomotives — the express was double headed — of the troop train, the local train and the express, were also badly damaged by fire and the intensity of the fire was so hot that all the coal in the tenders was burned.
Considering the double collision and the fire, casualties in the other trains were lighter than might have been expected.
On the local train two passengers died, with none seriously injured, while on the express seven passengers died, with a further 51 and three members of railway staff seriously injured.
On the express were Soldiers of the 9th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, travelling home on leave from the Battle of Ypres in Belgium. Home leave had only been granted to four officers and a number of other ranks. Having survived the Battle, they returned home only to die in this disaster.

Wikipedia commons -Image James T.M.Towill - 2014 --Site Of The Quintinshill rail disaster Viewed from Blacksike Bridge looking south.

It was a devastating blow to the Battalion and to the whole population of Leith - it was said that there was not a family in the town untouched by the tragedy, probably made worse by the fact that, out of the 216 who died in the disaster, or soon afterwards from their injuries, only 83 were ever identified. The remaining 133 bodies could not be identified or were, literally, cremated within the firestorm of the wreckage. On Sunday 23rd, 107 coffins were taken back to Edinburgh and were placed in the Battalion's Drill Hall in Dalmeny Street, off Leith Walk. On the afternoon of Monday 24th May, 101 of these were taken in procession for burial in a mass grave that had been dug in Rosebank Cemetery, Pilrig Street, about a mile from the Drill Hall. ‘The route was lined by 3,150 soldiers, thousands of citizens stood shoulder to shoulder on the pavement; shops were closed, blinds drawn and the traffic stopped.'
Of the half-battalion (498 all ranks) on the train only sixty-two survived unscathed. These survivors, including the Commanding Officer, continued on to Liverpool where six officers embarked, and sailed on the Sunday on HMT Empress of Britain with the second half of the Battalion, while one officer and the 55 NCO and soldier survivors were sent back to Edinburgh.

It was a devastating blow to the Battalion and to the whole population of Leith - it was said that there was not a family in the town untouched by the tragedy, probably made worse by the fact that, out of the 216 who died in the disaster, or soon afterwards from their injuries, only 83 were ever identified. The remaining 133 bodies could not be identified or were, literally, cremated within the firestorm of the wreckage. On Sunday 23rd, 107 coffins were taken back to Edinburgh and were placed in the Battalion's Drill Hall in Dalmeny Street, off Leith Walk. On the afternoon of Monday 24th May, 101 of these were taken in procession for burial in a mass grave that had been dug in Rosebank Cemetery, Pilrig Street, about a mile from the Drill Hall. ‘The route was lined by 3,150 soldiers, thousands of citizens stood shoulder to shoulder on the pavement; shops were closed, blinds drawn and the traffic stopped.' Of the half-battalion (498 all ranks) on the train only sixty-two survived unscathed. These survivors, including the Commanding Officer, continued on to Liverpool where six officers embarked, and sailed on the Sunday on HMT Empress of Britain with the second half of the Battalion, while one officer and the 55 NCO and soldier survivors were sent back to Edinburgh.

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Zeppelin Raids on Edinburgh - 1916

15/4/2016

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ZEPPELIN RAIDS - 1916
Although the city of Edinburgh wasn't too badly affected in World War ll, there was a night of serious destruction across the city in World War l. On Sunday 2nd April 1916 at around 11.30pm, a German Zeppelin was spotted crossing the Firth of Forth and heading towards Leith.
The Dock area was first to be bombed before the Zeppelin turned its attention to the general population. Bombs fell in Commercial street, Sandport Street, Church Street and Mill Lane where a Manse was destroyed and Leith hospital had a near miss. Buildings, a railway and a tannery suffered hits at Bonnington.
The Zeppelin then headed for Edinburgh. 23 windows were broken in Longstone and bombs rained down as far away as Liberton. The area around Donaldson's Hospital was badly damaged and Canonmills was hit, with many windows being
broken in a blast.
Lauriston Place was badly affected including George Watson's College and many windows in the nearby Royal Infirmary were broken. Marchmont and Causewayside were both bombed and in the Grassmarket the White Hart Inn suffered damage and windows were blown out there as well as West Bow.
A bomb landed on the Mound but caused no damage, then one fell on the Castle Rock missing the Castle but causing damage to neighbouring streets
including Lothian Road.
Marshall Street in the Southside was the worst affected place with the highest number of casualties when a bomb fell opposite number 16. Nicolson Street and Simon Square also suffered extensive damage. The Zeppelin moved onto St Leonard's Hill causing a further casualty then into Queen's Park but causing little damage.
There is uncertainty over the Zeppelin's path across the city, it seems to have jumped from one area to another in no particular order.
In all 11 people died that night and countless were injured.
Many buildings were damaged or destroyed yet little is now known of this night of terror that affected the residents of Edinburgh not so long ago. The plaque is situated in the Grassmarket. From Edinburghpastandpresent.com

What is less well-known is that more than 1260 civilians died - and more than 3000 were injured - in aerial attacks on Britain during the First World War.
While some attempts had been put in place to protect the public in England, in Edinburgh there wasn't even a blackout, and the city was totally unprepared for what was about to be unleashed. Historian Sandy Mullay, author of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia and the Illustrated History of Edinburgh Suburbs, says: "In England the local authorities would lower the gas pressure - and that would alert the public but there is no record of that happening in Edinburgh."
April 2, 1916, was a bright moonlight night, perfect conditions for navigating a Zeppelin. Jonathan Ferguson, assistant curator of military history at Edinburgh's National War Museum, explains: "They were a very primitive method of ordinance. They were pretty subject to weather conditions, like wind and fog and they navigated using ground features."
Sandy adds: "The individual bombs were dropped by hand. They were about the size of a sack of flour."
Even with the perfect weather conditions, the raid did not go exactly to plan for the two German navy airships heading for the city. Jonathan says: "There were supposed to meet up with two other airships but one turned back because of navigation problems." The other reached Britain, but appears to have got lost and released its bomb load over fields in Blyth in Northumberland.
So it was just two airships which reached the Firth of Forth in the early evening. But two was quite enough to cause carnage.

Their targets were not civilian - they were aiming for the docks at Rosyth and the fleet moored in the Forth.
Sandy believes the airships were repelled by the ships' defences, and it was only then they turned inland to the city itself. They were carrying 27 high explosive and 14 incendiary devices and their ' hunt for new targets was helped by an early hit - a bomb fell on a bonded warehouse at Leith and lit up the whole city. That bomb alone caused 44,000 of damage.
Several bombs fell along the shore at Leith, one hitting St Thomas's Parish Manse in Sheriff Brae and another falling on a railway siding at Bonnington, where a child was killed in its crib. An empty patch of land at Bellevue Terrace was hit, smashing windows in the surrounding streets.
One of the airships then appeared to aim for the Castle. A bomb hit the road by the Mound and another ploughed through the home of Dr John McLaren at 39 Lauriston Place, although no-one there was injured. Then one hit the Castle rock itself, sending splinters of stone tumbling down to smash windows in Castle Terrace. A plaque, high up on the rock, now commemorates the spot.

Plaque on Castle pic courtesy Nigel Nairn chief guide Edinburgh Castle.

As the Zeppelin wobbled in the air overhead, another of its deadly load struck the Grassmarket in front of the White Hart Hotel. Four people were injured, one later died. "Unfortunately people had rushed out to see it," says Sandy. The County Hotel on Lothian Road was also hit, as was George Watson's College where the west wing classroom windows were smashed - which at leleast brought pleasure to some. "On my road into school this morning," one pupil recorded the day after, "I met several joyous persons who informed me that the Easter holidays had begun - compulsorily . . . there were some compensating features even about an air raid."
Not for those standing on Marshall Street when the attack happened. There, a group had taken refuge in the entrance to a tenement when a bomb hit the pavement just outside. Six died and seven were injured. And at a tenement on St Leonard's Hill a child was killed and two people injured.
There were also miraculous escapes - a bomb hit a tenement on Marchmont Crescent and went through the ceilings and floors of three storeys without injuring anyone. And a five-flat tenement on Causewayside was wrecked but again with no human cost.
There were only two attempts to ward off the attacks. Jonathan says: "For the only time in its history the One o'Clock Gun was fired [in action] but they were only blank shots as they are now." And as the Zeppelins moved out towards East Lothian, an Avro 504, piloted by Flight Lieutenant GA Cox, took off from East Fortune airfield. Unfortunately he did not manage to make contact with the Zeppelin. "Then he crash-landed when he returned and was quite badly hurt," says Jonathan.
With that, Edinburgh's first and only air attack of the First World War was over. The repercussions, however, would last much longer. An official German report spoke of a bombardment of "the northern part of Edinburgh and Leith, with docks on the Firth of Forth". The British dismissed this as: "A statement of the usual inaccurate and bombastic type".
However, the authorities were rattled - particularly after furious letters began appearing in the newspapers, including the Edinburgh Evening News, about why the city was so badly prepared. Within days, discussions were beginning about systems to automatically dim the lights and the raid led directly to the setting up of three airfields, Gilmerton, Colinton and Turnhouse.
Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/night-zeppelins-brought-first-dose-of-air-raid-death-1-1336753#ixzz45sctWzxc

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Scottish Suffragettes......

9/2/2016

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Not exactly a War Story but things changed for the Suffragette Movement after WWI, so makes interesting reading (and I had nowhere else to put this!)

The following information has been researched from, and can be found, along with lots more information, in the Book – 'The Scottish Suffragettes', by Leah Leneman. ISBN 1-901663-40-x. published by National Museums of Scotland and available from them at www.nms.ac.uk Also available from Amazon.
(Note from blogmaster-There are many interesting stories of brave individual women in the book. Restrictions of copyright prohibit me from including them in this article)
Additional information can be found the West Lothian Local History Library booklet titled 'Suffragettes in West Lothian', which has also been used for research here.

Image with permission from www.SuffragetteLife.co.uk

Leah Lenemen writes that between 1867 and 1876, 2 million signatures were collected in Scotland, to petition for women to have the same voting rights as men. On presentation, this petition failed and led to the formation of the Women's Suffrage Societies in London, Manchester and Edinburgh.
In 1887, seventeen of these groups united to form the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). They adopted a peaceful, non -confrontational approach.
In West Scotland, the Association for Women's Suffrage formed in 1902. West Lothian's first Suffragette meeting was in 1909 and by 1914 there were Suffragette meetings being held in most of West Lothian.

In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst and daughters (Sylvia and Christabel) formed the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Manchester. This was the start of the militant Suffragette movement.

Emaline Pankhurst

Christabel Pankhurst

The first Scottish militant demonstration took place in Glasgow in 1909 where women forced their way into a political meeting. They wanted publicity and to encourage more women to join the cause.

The first imprisoned Suffragettes in England started hunger strikes in protest of their treatment. They were forcibly fed, bringing many to a critical condition, resulting in release. Thereafter all imprisoned Suffragettes went on hunger strike.

Image with permission from www.Suffragettelife.co.uk

In March 1912, several Scotswomen marched from Edinburgh to London to participate in a three day window smashing raid, resulting in over 200 arrests and imprisonments in Holloway, subsequently going on hunger strike and in some cases, force fed.

Articile Source - The Illustrated London News ( Weekly Publication / Magazine ) Date - March 1912

In 1913, in Scotland, acid attacks on pillar boxes were favoured, destroying letters. The attacks escalated to arson on important buildings. The arsonists who were caught, faced imprisonment. The Cat and Mouse Act was passed in 1913 and Suffragettes were not to be force fed when on hunger strike. Instead they were imprisoned until they weakened, then released, on oath, to return once they had recovered. Many did not return and disappeared.

Image with permission from www.SuffragetteLife.co.uk

In Scotland the first force fed Suffragettes occured in 1914. The Prison Commissioners grew fed up with the 'Cat and Mouse Act' and decided that any convicted Suffragettes in Scotland, who went on hunger strike, would be forcibly fed at Perth Prison.

Image with permission from www.SuffragetteLife.co.uk

The onset of World War I saw an end to the militant activities of the WSUP. All Suffragettes were released from prison and they threw themselves into supporting Britain's War effort. In 1918, women over 30 were given the right to vote, followed in 1928 after more militancy, for women over 21.

Womens Land Army poster www.womenslandarmy.co.uk

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Animals and World War 1

1/11/2015

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Animals Forced Into World War 1
Over 16 million animals served in the First World War. They were used for transport, communication and companionship.
An estimated 1.2m Horses, Donkeys, Mules and Camels carried food, water, ammunition and medical supplies to men at the front and approximately 200,000 pigeons carried messages.
Canaries were used to detect poisonous gas, and cats and dogs were trained to hunt rats in the trenches.
Dogs were also trained to be Casualty Dogs they would look for wounded troops and take them medication and supplies, they would also stay by a soldiers side to keep them company, whilst they died.
It is even believed that Glow Worms were used in WW1 as an aid for map reading.

Animal lost in war
It is estimated that 484,143 British horses, mules, camels and bullocks died between 1914 and 1918. And many hundreds of dogs, carrier pigeons and other animals also died on various fronts. Many RSPCA inspectors lost their lives in their attempts to save animals forced to participate in war.

Within weeks of war being declared a Fund was started for ‘Sick and wounded horses’, which raised over £250,000 (the equivalent of over £12 million today) between 1914-18. The King even made a donation.
The money raised was spent on four complete field veterinary hospitals, each one of which was able to hold up to 2,000 horses and mules, and paid for stabling at eight other veterinary hospitals.

Of the 2.5 million injured animals admitted to the Army Veterinary Corps during the First World War, over 85 per cent were treated and returned to duty. Their role was to try and reduce animal suffering and provide swift and humane treatment to animals forced to serve in war.

Horses
When the war broke out in Western Europe in August 1914, both Britain and Germany had a cavalry force that each numbered about 100,000 men. Such a number of men would have needed a significant number of horses but probably all senior military personnel at this time believed in the supremacy of the cavalry attack. In August 1914, no-one could have contemplated the horrors of trench warfare – hence why the cavalry regiments reigned supreme. In fact, in Great Britain the cavalry regiments would have been seen as the senior regiments in the British Army, along with the Guards regiments, and very many senior army positions were held by cavalry officers.
However, the cavalry charge seen near Mons was practically the last seen in the war. Trench warfare made such charges not only impractical but impossible. A cavalry charge was essentially from a bygone military era and machine guns, trench complexes and barbed wire made such charges all but impossible. However, some cavalry charges did occur despite the obvious reasons as to why they should not. In March 1918, the British launched a cavalry charge at the Germans. By the Spring of 1918, the war had become more fluid but despite this, out of 150 horses used in the charge only 4 survived. The rest were cut down by German machine gun fire.
However, though a cavalry charge was no longer a viable military tactic, horses were still invaluable as a way of transporting materials to the front. Military vehicles, as with any mechanised vehicles of the time, were relatively new inventions and prone to problems. Horses, along with mules, were reliable forms of transport and compared to a lorry needed little upkeep. Citation: C N Trueman "Horses In World War One" historylearningsite.co.uk.

Dogs

Dogs had a vital part to play in World War One as the complexes of trenches spread throughout the Western Front. It is estimated that by 1918, Germany had employed 30,000 dogs, Britain, France and Belgian over 20,000 and Italy 3000. Lots of dog breeds were used during World War One, but the most popular type of dogs were medium-sized, intelligent and trainable breeds. Two in particular were used because of their superior strength, agility, territorial nature and trainability; Doberman Pinscher’s and German Shephard Dogs.
Citation: C N Trueman "Dogs In World War One"historylearningsite.co.uk. ).

Two casualty dogs with medication and supplies C1916.

Casualty or ‘Mercy’ Dogs:
These dogs were vital in World War One. Trained to find wounded or dying soldiers on the battlefield, they carried medical equipment so an injured soldier could treat himself and they would also stay beside a dying soldier to keep him company.
Originally trained in the late 1800’s by the Germans, they were later utilised across Europe.

Known as ‘Sanitatshunde’ in Germany, these dogs were trained to find the wounded and dying on battlefields and were equipped with medical supplies to aid those suffering.
Those soldiers who could help themselves to supplies would tend to their own wounds, whilst other more gravely wounded soldiers would seek the company of a Mercy dog to wait with them whilst they died.

a dog handler reads a message brought by a messenger dog who has just swum across a canal, in France.

America, at first, did not use dogs except to utilise a few hundred from the Allies for specific missions. Later, after a chance stowaway, the USA produced the most decorated and highly-ranked service dog in military history, Sergeant Stubby, who died in 1926.

The only dog to be promoted to sergeant through combat, This Terrier started out as the mascot of the 102nd Infantry, 26th Yankee Division, and ended up becoming a full-fledged combat dog. Brought up to the front lines, he was injured in a gas attack early on, which gave him a sensitivity to gas that later allowed him to warn his soldiers of incoming gas attacks by running and barking. He helped find wounded soldiers, even captured a German spy who was trying to map allied trenches. Stubby was the first dog ever given rank in the United States Armed Forces, and was highly decorated for his participation in seventeen. When it was all said and done, Stubby had been awarded a dozen medals for heroism. He was also given lifetime memberships with the American Legion, the Red Cross and even the Y.M.C.A. and being wounded twice.(Wikimedia Commons)

Soldiers Dog Fund
During the war the RSPCA established temporary kennels at Boulogne in France for dogs belonging to men going on leave as quarantine restricted the animals’ return to the UK.
When the war ended, they then set up the Soldiers Dog Fund to meet the cost of bringing the dogs over and keeping them in quarantine until the demobilised men were able to take them home. Five hundred kennels were specially built at Hackbridge, Surrey, to house the dogs. www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/aboutus/history/firstworldwar/animals

Pigeons

"These homing pigeons are doing much to save the lives of our boys in France. They act as efficient messengers and dispatch bearers not only from division to division and from the trenches to the rear but also are used by our aviators to report back the results of their observation." (WWI Signal Corps Photograph Collection)

A pigeon with a small camera attached. The trained birds were used experimentally by German citizen Julius Neubronner, before and during the war years, capturing aerial images when a timer mechanism clicked the shutter. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv)

Elephants etc

As World War One raged, the military purchased most of England's horses and sent them to the Western Front. Many farmers and traders had to find alternative beasts of burden, but none more exotic than elephants.
On the cobbled streets of industrial Sheffield an Indian elephant dutifully lumbered along.
Her task was important - she had to cart munitions, machines and scrap metal around the city, a job previously done by three horses taken off to war.
Lizzie - as she was known - was used to performing tricks as part of a travelling menagerie.
But with the outbreak of World War One she was conscripted to help with heavy labour, fitted with a harness and sent to work at a scrap metal merchants. Lizzie was given a special pair of leather boots to protect her feet from the metal rubbish, which littered the ground at the scrap metal yard.
There is some evidence that she went on to work at a farm where the ground was more forgiving.
However, she was not the only exotic animal working in Britain.
Camels, most probably from the same menagerie as Lizzie, were also used in Sheffield to pull heavy loads.
And in Surrey, elephants from a nearby circus filled-in for absent horses, ploughing fields and transporting hay.

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100th Anniversary of Battle of Loos, 25th Sep - 18th Oct 1915

2/9/2015

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September 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Loos, in France.
Queensferry and Dalmeny lost 5 men here.
Queensferry: Private Harold Crawford, of 1st Battalion Royal Scots, who died from wounds received during the Battle of loos, on 23.10.1915 aged 19.
He is buried at home in Colchester Cemetery.
Dalmeny: Corporal John Kennie, of 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, who was killed in action on 25.9.1915 aged 24. He is commemorated on Loos Memorial.
Private William Turner of 1st Battalion Queens Own Cameron Highlanders, who was killed in action on 13.10.1915 aged 26. He is commemorated on Loos Memorial.
Corporal John McKinley, of 8th Battalion Royal Highlanders (Black Watch), who was killed in action on 27.9.1915, aged 18. He is commemorated on Loos Memorial.
Corporal William Russell of 9th Battalion Gordon Highlanders, who died of wounds received in the Battle of Loos, on 25.9.1915 aged 27. He is commemorated on Loos Memorial.

The Battle of Loos was the largest British battle that took place in 1915 on the Western Front during World WarI. So much so, it was known as 'The Big Push'.
It was the first time the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. The British battle was part of the attempt by the Allies to break through the German defences in Artois and Champagne and restore a war of movement. Despite improved methods, more ammunition and better equipment, the Franco-British attacks were contained by the German armies, except for local losses of ground. British casualties at Loos were about twice as high as German casualties.

The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 soldiers who fell in the battle and have no known grave

Scottish troops returning from Loos battlefield. image courtesy of CWGC

Loos Memorial, Pas De Calais, France. Image courtesy of CWGC

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Emily Borrowman, - Queensferry Postmistress WW1

3/8/2015

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Clydesdale Bank before recent refurbishment.

During World War 1, Emily Anne Austin Borrowman was Telegraphist and Sorting Clerk, then later Postmistress, in South Queensferry Post Office, now the Clydesdale Bank on Queensferry High Street

Emily Borrowman

Emily was born in Fullerton Farm, near Penicuik, in 1887 and was educated at Toxside School, Temple which she left in 1902. In 1905 she began her postal career, presumably as a trainee, at Gorebridge Post Office and her first official appointment was to Kirriemuir Post Office in 1908, and met her future husband George Alexander Mill there. She transferred to Galashiels Post Office in 1910 and in June 1914, she transferred to Edinburgh, which seems to have included South Queensferry. George Mill, who was wounded during World War 1, sent a postcard from France, to Emily, at Galasheils Post Office, which was redirected to Queensferry Post Office.

Queensferry Post Office

Emily seems to have been continuously at South Queensferry Post Office from September 1914 until about August 1917 but later transferred to Edinburgh, as in September 1918, she received a postcard, from George Mill, addressed to Post Office Staff, Leven Street, Edinburgh. However a postcard dated December 1918, sent to her home address at Buccleuch Street, Edinburgh, was redirected to Queensferry Post Office, Emily having returned as interim Postmistress for 10 months.

George returned from the war and they were married in 1920.

Emily Borrowman and George Mill, Wedding Photo

During Emily's time in Queensferry, she gathered lots of photos and kept an autograph album which comprised of about 70 writings and drawings, by, for the most part, sailors from the Grand Fleet. Most seem to be just before the Battle of Jutland, 1916.

Postcard. HMS Valiant, Battle of Jutland 1916

Emily is remembered by one soldier, Arthur Donaldson, who wrote of her in the Scotsman in 1964. He recalls, while stationed in South Queensferry, seeing many ships returning to Rosyth in The Forth after the Battle of Jutland. He saw boats setting off for shore and "Queensferry was very 'lively'. The first call for many sailors was the Post Office to send telegrams to their relatives. A queue formed and the postmistress did a splendid job in weighing up the situation. She collected 6d or 9d from each sailor, took his Christian name and the address to send the message "I am safe" to his relatives. She then dismissed the queue and for hours sent off these telegrams. The sailors, their duty done to both home and country, went off to enjoy a well earned pint"

Images and information Copyright John D M Gordon to whom grateful thanks are due for permission to use his painstaking work.

© Queensferry History Group 2015

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Military Hospitals

1/8/2015

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Naval Hospital

In 1914, at the beginning of the War, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, and at a total cost of just under £10,000, the new Royal Naval Hospital was built beside the existing Naval Hospital at Butlaw, Queensferry. It was named the Queen Mary's and Princess Christian's Hospital. Queen Mary and Princess Christian at the time, had been offered the donation to build a Naval Hospital, and they chose the site, on ground belonging to the Marquis of Linlithgow.

At the time of an official Royal visit in November, it already held 200 sick and wounded sailors.
The same donor erected a hospital in South Africa at the time of the Boer War!

Butlaw Naval Hospital

Butlaw Naval Hospital, image courtesy of John Gordon

Naval Hospital Ships

Naval Hospital Ships were used to treat and transport wounded sailors. On 15.8.1915 The Scotsman reported that a hospital ship arrived in the Forth, to disembark patients for whom accommodation was to be found at various points ashore, leaving the hospital ship free to rejoin the fleet at sea. 14 ambulance wagons and cars were employed to transport the wounded. Hand and foot injuries seemed most common and it was stressed that none of the injured were wounded in action at sea! A considerable number of the injured were taken to the Royal Naval Hospital in Queensferry.
One such ship was the Hospital Ship Sheelah, which belonged to the wife of Admiral Beattie. In August 1914, Sheelah was presented by Lady Beatty to the Admiralty for use as a Hospital Ship. Ethel Beatty paid for much of the fitting out including an Operating Theatre whose design was later used in other Hospital ships. Sheelah was based at Rosyth.

Hospital Ship Sheelah, courtesy of John Gordon.

The following extract is from - British Journal of Nursing: November 21,1914: p 404
http;//rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/data/VOLUME053-1914/page404-volume53-21stnovember1914.pdf
‘Princess Christian last week paid a visit to the Queen Mary and Princess Christina Hospital at South Queensbury on the Firth of Forth , where there are at present a number of sick cases from the Fleet in the wards , and afterwards visited Lady Beatty, wife of Rear Admiral Sir David Beatty, on board the steam yacht Sheelah which is now equipped as a hospital ship.’

Auxiliary Hospitals

At the outbreak of WW1, the British Red Cross and the order of St John of Jerusalem combined to form the Joint War Committee. They pooled their resources under the protection of the Red Cross Emblem. As the Red Cross had secured buildings, equipment and staff, the organization was able to set up temporary hospitals as soon as wounded men began to arrive from abroad. The buildings varied widely, ranging from town halls and schools to large and small private houses both in the country and cities. The most suitable ones were established as Auxiliary Hospitals. Auxiliary Hospitals were attached to central Military Hospitals, which looked after patients still under military control. There were over 3,000 Auxiliary Hospitals administered by Red Cross county directors. http://www.redcross.org.uk/~/media/BritishRedCross/Documents

There were 166 Auxiliary Hospitals in Scotland. Hopetoun House and Dalmeny House were two such Hospitals. As most of the trained nurses were serving on the front, the shortage at home fell to volunteer nurses in many Auxiliary Hospitals, supported by a trained matron and volunteer doctors. In many cases, women in the local area volunteered on a part time basis. The hospitals often needed to supplement the voluntary work with paid roles such as cooks. Local medics volunteered despite the extra strain the medical profession was already under at that time.

Hopetoun House Auxiliary Hospital

Hopetoun House

On 12.3.1915, The Scotsman reported that Lord Linlithgow had fitted the Ballroom of Hopetoun House as an Auxiliary Hospital with 41 beds. It was staffed by a Matron and 11 voluntary nurses. The only alterations needed were the addition of a kitchen and office. Men were arriving regularly from the first line hospitals. The patients under treatment at that time, mostly suffer from bullet wounds in the limbs and frostbite.

The 'Edinburgh Committee for Providing Concerts for the Wounded Soldiers', arranged concerts to entertain the convalescents. Hopetoun House was among a list of hospitals and camps visited.
From November 1915 to New Year's Day 1916, 64 concerts were arranged.

Dalmeny Park Military Hospital

Dalmeny House

On 13.11.1914 The Scotsman reported Her Royal Highness Princess Christian visited Dalmeny Hospital. Her Royal Highness was received by Lord Rosebery and after the various members of staff had been presented, she made a tour of the wards. Her Royal Highness spoke to the individual patients of whom there are over 80 at present in the hospital, and expressed at the end of her visit her great apprehension of the comfort of the patients and the general arrangements of the hospital.
On 21 3 1916, the Scotsman reported that an ambulance train from England had arrived at the Caledonian Station, Edinburgh, with 124 sick and wounded soldiers. 35 men were taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, 20 to Craiglieth Hospital and 40 to Dalmeny Hospital.

One nurse who served at Dalmeny House was Susan Deverille Munro. Born in Sutherlandshire, she trained in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary before serving in Dalmeny House Hospital. She later served at various hospitals in France and was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty during an enemy air raid at Etaples, France in May, 1918.

Military Medal

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1st July 1915 - Ypres

1/7/2015

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A postcard of the devastation in Ypres dated 1st July 1915, posted here on 1st July 2015!

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Inchgarvie Island

1/6/2015

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Inchgarvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. Its name comes from Innis Garbhach which is Scottish Gaelic for "rough island". On the rocks around the island sit four caissons that make up the foundations of the Forth Rail Bridge.
Studies of the landscape beneath the waters of the Firth have revealed that the visible surface of Inchgarvie is only the top of a larger 'crag and tail' structure, similar in structure to Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile, created by glacial action.
From early days, this rocky islet, set in the midst of the waters of the Forth, had been regarded as of strategic importance owing to its situation.

King Hungas and Athelstan
Athelstaneford is a beautiful little village in East Lothian, nestling in the Garleton Hills, a mile or so from Haddington, the main town of the county. It is here that it is claimed that the origins of the Scots flag, the Saltire of Scotland, were occasioned by the results of a famous battle. Legend has it that a certain Saxon/Anglic King or Prince, Athelstan, was in East Lothian at the head of a large army, when he came across an army of Scots/Picts led by King Hungas (variants Onuist, Hungus or Angus) Mac Fergusa, King of the Picts in Modern Scotland from 820 – 834 AD. Being surrounded, King Angus prayed to St Andrew and just before the battle, a saltire appeared in the sky formed by white clouds against a blue background. This represented the shape of the cross on which Andrew had been crucified and seemed a sign from above that the Scots/Picts would prevail that day. It gave added strength and purpose to Angus and his men and a great victory followed. Ever after, the Scots/Picts showed a great devotion to St Andrew and the Saltire became Scotland’s National flag and Andrew their Patron Saint.
Athelstan’s head was cut off and displayed on top of a long pole on the little island of Inchgarvie, in the Firth of Forth, where King Hungas stopped, on returning to his kingdom North of the Forth.

Inchgarvie Castle.
It was with a view to preventing the devastations of Dutch and English pirates, that James 1V, in 1491, granted the Island of Inchgarvie to John Dundas of Dundas, with permission to build a fort on the rocky islet and levy 6 pence duty on passing ships, for protection from Pirates.
He was to surround the structure with stone walls to fortify and strengthen it and defend it with moats, iron gates, battlements, machicolations-(A projecting gallery at the top of a castle wall, supported by a row of corbels and
having openings in the floor through which stones and boiling liquids could be dropped on attackers.),
crenels- (gaps on ramparts through which arrows could be fired) and skowlaris and with all other and sundry munitions and defences. The building was to be adorned with warlike and defensive ornaments and a constable, warden, keeper of the prison, guards, porters and other officers necessary were to be established within its walls. The fortifications were not complete however until more than 20 years later.

The King did not live to see the fort completed, for the building operations seem to have been interrupted by the death of John Dundas in 1495, and not until after the Battle of Flodden was the fortification finished.

On 8 March 1514, Margaret the widow of William Dundas of Dundas undertook the completion of the fortress that James IV and her father-in-law had begun building on Inchgarvie island.
Since those days until the present day the barren rock of inchgarvie has remained as a strategic point in the defences of the forth.
Between 1519 and 1671, the castle was used as a prison.
Another use for Inchgarvie in 1580, was to house recovering plague victims.

Image from "Inverkeithing, N. Queensferry, Rosyth-The Naval Base", by A .S. Cunningham - 1903

Oliver Cromwell
From 1650 to 1651 , as Oliver Cromwell's Army marched North, Inchgarvie was occupied by the Royalists who built a Fort around the castle and used it to defend the Forth against Cromwell. In 1651 Inchgarvie resisted many attacks by Cromwell's flotilla but after the Battle of Inverkeithing and the defeat of the Royalists, supplies to Inchgarvie were cut off, forcing surrender. In 1654, Dunfermline Minister, Mr Kay, was imprisoned by Cromwell's men, for praying for the King! Inchgarvie continued to be used as a prison until 1671, when it was replaced in that task by the Bass Rock.

Oliver Cromwell, (courtesy bcw-project.org)

John Paul Jones -Wikipedia

Fortifications

In 1779 Inchgarvie was armed with 4 - 24 pounders to protect shipping from pirates such as John Paul Jones, an American Naval Commander who harassed British ships from a base in the Forth. A few years later canons were put on the battery hill in view under threat of possible invasion from France. These fortifications were never used in anger.

During the Napoleonic period, the threat from the sea meant in 1806 the Fort was repaired and gun batteries were created, then mounted with cannons.

Construction of Forth Rail Bridge from Inchgarvie Island

Forth Rail Bridge
Inchgarvie was purchased by the Forth Bridge company for £4,300 for use as a base for the new bridge. The presence of Inchgarvie Island enabled the central cantilever to be based upon a solid foundation. The island, due to its proximity to the bridge, was also used as a construction office for the bridge, as well as accommodation for its workers within the re-roofed castle buildings. Some of the stone from the former castle was used to help build the caissons of the Forth Bridge.

Inchgarvie 1, (Norma Brown)

Inchgarvie 2 (Norma Brown)

Inchgarvie 3 (Norma Brown)

Like nearby Inchmickery, Inchgarvies profile and colour make it look like a battleship from a distance, and it was used for gun placements during the world wars.

During World War 1 Inchgarvie was garrisoned by the Royal Garrison Artillery
One sad incident involving Inchgarvie Island was reported in the Scotsman on 19th March 1915. Artillery Man Accidently Killed at Queensferry:
It was reported at headquarters yesterday that Corporal John Thomson, No 3 Company, Forth RGA had been found dead that morning on Inchgarvie. While going on duty he had evidently accidently fallen down the steps leading from the Forth Bridge to the island.

Corporal John Thomson No: 1012, of 3rd Company, Royal Garrison Artillery, was born c1887 in Kirkwall, Rousay, Orkney. His parents were William, a Marine Engineer, and Mary Thomson MS Reid. He enlisted in 1908 in Edinburgh aged 21. His Home address was 16 Hawthornbank Place, Leith and he was unmarried. At the time of enlisting, he was in 1st Edinburgh City Royal Garrison Artillery Volunteers.
He died on 17th March 1915 aged 28 at approx. 11pm, on Inchgarvie Island, from injuries caused by a fall from a height. The informant was Captain Miller of Forth RGA, Inchgarvie, North Queensferry.
Letters between RGA Records Office, Dover, and Officer in Charge, No3 Co. Forth RGA, Inchgarvie, North Queensferry, on request by the Pensions Department, show investigation regarding a previously reported insecure hand rail at the stairs. No records of this seem to exist and John's Service Records show no resolution.
His death was registered in Inverkeithing and he is buried in Grave Ref: B1. 964, Edinburgh Warriston Cemetery.

In World War 2, Inchgarvie was garrisoned by the Royal Artillery, and an anti-aircraft battery was installed. As such, the remains of the castle are now incorporated into the concrete defences.

Inchgarvie was subsequently neglected and it's stones used by builders for both sides of the river.
Local people have said they grew vegetables on the Island as they sailed up and down in their little boats.

Brendan Gisby , local author has written a novel based on Inchgarvie Island. Titled "The Island of Whispers", it is a story of oppression overcome, fierce loyalty, dreams and devastation, from the Rat's point of view. Available from Amazon.

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The Queensferry Tank!

1/5/2015

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(click on image to see larger picture)

This crested china 13cm model of a Mark IV British tank was manufactured by Carlton China, Stoke-on-Trent, and sold by Rae & Co., Stationers, South Queensferry.
William Goss and his son Adolphus are credited with the idea of making souvenir China items bearing the arms and names of seaside resorts which they manufactured from 1858 to 1939. Other pottery manufacturers followed Goss’s lead, including Wiltshaw & Robinson of Stoke-on-Trent with their Carlton Ware, Heraldic China which they started making around 1903.

Towards the end of the 19th century bank holidays were introduced and most workers had a half day off on Saturdays, starting “the weekend”. Some skilled workers began to receive paid holidays and an extensive railway network allowed workers to go to the seaside for day trips and longer holidays for the more affluent. Purchasing a souvenir was part of this experience and was a pleasant reminder of happy times when they returned home.

The Queensferry Tank bears a number of inscriptions. It has the name of the tank “Crème-de-Menthe” on the front and the letters HMLS on top, which stand for His Majesty's Land Tank. Tanks, like ships, had names as well as numbers. Unfortunately, Carlton got the name of this tank wrong, “Crème-de-Menthe” was a Mark I tank and this Mark IV tank is “HMLS Nelson”, number 130, as displayed on the left hand side.On the left-hand side of the tank is the number 130 assigned to this tank and also what Carlton China considered to be Queensferry's coat of arms. Although Queensferry was one of the first Royal Burghs to register arms in the Lyon Register (c. 1673), the Burgh has always used representations of its Common Seal rather than a coat of arms. On the left of the shield is the coat of the arms of Queen Margaret and on the right we see Queen Margaret arriving at the Binks Rocks at Queensferry. Underneath this is the Latin motto “Insignia Burgi Pasagi Reginae” meaning, “The Insignia of the Burgh of the Queen’s Ferry”.

On the right-hand side of the tank is: ”Victory of Justice - Peace Signed at Versailles, June 28, 1919”, which commemorates the Versailles peace treaty and dates the model tank at 1919 or later.
Underneath this is the inscription “British Tank Gave Them Hell At The Marne 1918”. The Second Battle of the Marne was the last major German Spring Offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The German attack failed when an Allied counter attack by French and American forces, including 350 tanks, overwhelmed the Germans. The German defeat marked the start of the Allied advance which culminated in the Armistice with Germany about 100 days later. Ironically, a small number of captured British tanks were used in this battle by the Germans.

Tank Banks
Tank Banks was the name given to a World War I, the British Government, fund raising campaign. Six Mark IV tanks toured the towns and cities of England, Scotland and Wales to promote the sale of Government War Bonds and War Savings Certificates. Tank 130, “HMLS Nelson”, was one of the six tanks.

At each town or city, a tank arrived with great fanfare and civic dignitaries or celebrities made speeches on top of it. The tank was accompanied by soldiers and artillery and sometimes there were flights over the town to drop leaflets encouraging people to invest. The tank would put on a show for the crowd to demonstrate its capabilities. Each town or city had a fundraising target to meet and the amount raised by each location was reported in the press to create a competitive element, especially between the larger cities.
The Tank Bank campaign in Edinburgh managed to sell almost £5 million and Glasgow raised over £14.5 million.

War Bonds and War Saving Certificates
War is an expensive business. The British government introduced National War Bonds in October 1917. These were available to any person, company or organisation and were interest bearing and provided a premium payment when cashed in, 5-year, 7-year and 10-year bonds were available. These bonds can be used to buy government stocks or buy into war loans. They could also be used to pay death duties and excess profit duty. British banks put enormous effort into promoting and selling war bonds and also purchased large amounts of bonds with their own funds

War Savings Certificates were introduced in June 1916. These were simple investments aimed at ordinary people. A £1 certificate cost 15 shillings and sixpence (77½ p) which could be redeemed five years later, tax free. For small investors this was a good return, a safe investment and patriotic act.

The postcard above, posted 9th March 1918, shows the "Queensferry Tank", "Nelson", selling War Bonds in Trafalgar Square surrounded by a very large crowd.
The postcard message on the back is: "Thought this might interest you. I did not buy a bond but 'gave my services' instead, I played to an immense and enthusiastic crowed yesterday afternoon at Trafalgar Square: a platform was erected where I have marked X. It was a thoroughly interesting experience."

This cartoon featuring the Tank Banks campaign appeared in Punch Magazine on the 6th of March, 1918. Shortages were frequent in Britain throughout the war and queues were a common sight.

The end of the Queensferry Tank!

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Some Facts and Figures, Queensferry and Dalmeny Memorials

2/4/2015

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Queensferry Memorial

Age at Death- Year of Death- Battalion-Name -Where Born

28 years - 1914 - 2nd Royal Scots - William Ritchie - West End, Queensferry
27 years - 1914 - 2nd Royal Scots - Walter Pearson - West Terrace, Queensferry
21 years - 1914 - 2nd Scots Guards-Robert Lapsley-West End, Queensferry
33 years - 1914 - 2nd Royal Scots - Daniel R Gibson - Falkirk
27 years - 1914 - 1st Coldstream Guards - John Wilson - Rosebery Buildings, Q’ferry

42 years - 1915 - 1st KOSB - Alexander Peddie - Edinburgh
42 years - Drowned-1915-3/1st Lowland F Amb-RAMC-Charles Stevenson-Milngavie
25 years - Drowned - 1915 - 1st KOSB - George S Kerr - Leith
19 years - 1915 Home - 11th Royal Scots (Depot) - Harold Crawford - Devonport
34 years - 1915 - 1st Scots Guards - James Sellar - Smithsland, Queensferry
29 years - 1915 - 2nd Scots Guards - James Shade - Liberton
31 years - 1915 - 2nd Royal Scots - Louis Anderson - Bellstane, Queensferry
19 years - 1915 - 1st Gordon Highlanders -William Bain - Catherine Terrace, Q’ferry
22 years - 1915 - 5th Royal Scots -William F Kerr -Leith
24 years - 1915 - 12th Royal Scots - William Marshall - Harbour Lane, Queensferry
24 years - 1915 - 2nd Cameron Highlanders - William Ronaldson - Edinburgh
20 years - 1916 - 2/10th Royal Scots-Charles Sandercombe-West Terrace, Queensferry
18 years - 1916 - 8th Royal Scots - Charles Watson - Hampstead
40 years - 1916-Home-3rd Royal Scots-Cornelius McPhillips-Hill Square, Q'ferry 22 years - 1916-Home-Royal Scots Special Reserve-David Ley-Bellstane, Q'ferry
23 years - 1916-18th Canadian Infantry-David Macintosh-Q. Arms Hotel, Q’ferry
29 years - 1916 - 1st Gordon Highlanders - David Moig - Edinburgh
33 years - 1916 - 11th Royal Scots - George Earl-Leith
37 years - 1916 - 16th Canadian Infantry - George J Stewart-West End, Queensferry
26 years - 1916 - 1st Royal Engineers -James Davidson - Muiravonside
36 years - 1916 - 23rd Middlesex Reg - James Lapsley - Bellstane, Queensferry
30 years - 1916- 2nd Royal Scots - John Sanderson - Penicuik
32 years - 1916 - 11th Cameronians - John Smith - Craws Close, Queensferry
21 years - 1916 - 2/10th Royal Scots-Patrick Connolly-Smithsland, Queensferry
38 years - 1916 - 8th Royal Dublin Fussiliers-Peter Smith-West End, Queensferry
22 years - 1916 - 2nd Scots Guards - Ralph Lawson - High Street, Queensferry
19 years - 1916 - 3rd Royal Engineers - George T Stewart - Glasgow
23 years - 1916 Home-3/6th Royal Scots-William Mackie-Lilybank, Queensferry
19 years - 1917 - 9th Royal Scots - Alexander Begbie - Abercorn
33 years - 1917- 1st KOSB - Alfred Hunter - Leith
29 years - 1917 - 1st Royal Scots Fussiliers-George Marshall-West Terrace, S.Q.
21 years - 1917 - 2nd Royal Warwickshire-George Woods-Oil Work Cottages, Dalmeny
21 years - 1917 Egypt-52nd Army Cyclist Corps-James Campbell-Oil Work Cottages, Dalmeny
40 years - 1917 - 3/13th Royal Scots - James Grieve - Dunbar
31 years - 1917 - 11th Royal Scots - James Lowe - Dundee
39 years - 1917 - 8th Seaforth Highlanders - John Murray - Clackmannan
37 years - 1917 Home - 136th Royal Garrison Artillery - John Smith - Dublin
30 years - 1917 - KOSB - Melville Christie - Leith
33 years - 1917 - 1st Royal Irish Fussiliers - Michael Quigley - West Calder
30 years - 1917 - 4th Seaforth Highlanders - Norman Mathieson - Leith
31 years - 1917 - 2nd KOSB - Robert Ford - Mid Terrace, Queensferry
37 years - 1917 - 250th Tunneling Engineers-Thomas Fairley-Bellstane, Queensferry
19 years - drowned-1917-3rd Royal Scots Fussiliers-Thomas Lee-Ed Mat Hosp, lived in Q’ferry
25 years - 1917 - 17th Royal Scots - William Ley - West Terrace, Queensferry
33 years - 1918 - 10th Royal Cyclists - Adam Lindsay - Fife
36 years - 1918 - 17th Royal Scots - James Sandercombe-West Terrace, Queensferry
30 years - 1918 Home-Royal Scots (Depot)-Martin Tierney-West End, Queensferry
23 years - 1918 - 11th Tank Corps - Peter Marshall - East End, Queensferry
19 years - 1918 - 1st Cameronians - Peter McLeary - Broxburn
24 years - 1918 - 4th Royal Scots - Robert C Kerr - Leith
22 years - 1918 - 5th Royal Scots -Robert Murray - Edinburgh
29 years - 1918 - 7th Machine Gun Corps-Robert Fossett -Brown’s Close, Q'ferry 32 years - 1918 Home - 13th Royal Scots - Robert M Gardener - Morecambe
19 years - 1918 - 9th Black Watch - Thomas Duncan - Winchburgh
39 years - 1918 - 13th Royal Scots - William McArthur - The Loan, Queensferry
24 years - 1918 - 179th Royal Horse & Royal Field Artillery-William Scott-
Bank Buildings, Queensferry
34 years - 1919 Home - Royal Scots - Thomas Ley - Dundee
25 years - 1921 India - 1st Black Watch - David Fossett - Brown’s Close, SQ
40 years - 1921 Home - 1st Royal Scots Fussiliers-John McArthur-West Terrace, Queensferry
28 years - 1923 Home-Seaforth Highlanders (Depot)-James McArthur-Hill Square, Queensferry

Dalmeny Memorial

23 years - 1917 France- Royal Scots - Peter Anderson -Galashiels, Selkirk
29 years - 1916 France -Royal Scots - James Beveridge - Uphall, West Lothian
20 years - 1915 Belgium - Royal Army Medical Corps - Robert Phorson Brown - Edinburgh
19 years -1916 France - Cameron Highlanders - James Cameron - Long Green, Dalmeny
27 years - 1918 France - Black Watch - Andrew Campbell - Paisley
22 years - 1917 Belgium - Royal Scots - William Campbell - Edinburgh
22 years - 1917 France - Cameron Highlanders - Richard John Dickson - East Craigie, Dalmeny 30 years - 1918 France - Black Watch - Alexander Hallyburton - Perth
31 years - 1917 Belgium - Royal Field Artillery - Henry James Ions -Wansworth, Surrey
26 years - 1917 Belgium - Royal Field Artillery - Cummings Johnston - Musselburgh
24 years - 1915 France - Seaforth Highlanders - John Kennie - Lasswade. Midlothian
23 years - 1918 Archangel, Russia - Royal Scots - John Livingston - Glasgow
18 years - 1915 Gallipoli - Royal Scots - John Evander Mackay - Edinburgh
23 years - 1916 Edinburgh - Royal Scots - William Mackie - Lillybank, S.Queensferry.
27 years - 1916 France - Cameron Highlanders - Hugh MacDairmid - Wicklow, Ireland
18 years - 1915 France - Black Watch - John McKinlay - Edinburgh
30 years - 1916 France - Royal Scots - Robert Middleton - Edinburgh
23 years - 1918 France - Royal Scots Fussiliers - Charles Moodie - North Queensferry
27 years - 1914 France - Royal Scots - Walter Pearson - West Terrace, S. Queensferry
26 years - 1914 Belgium - Scots Guards - Angus Ramage - Dunbar
21 years - 1918 France - N. Staffordshire Reg. - James Reilly - Renfrewshire
24 years - 1915 Belgium - Cameron Highlanders - William Macdonald Ronaldson - Edinburgh
22 years - 1916 France - Highland Light Infantry - James Scott -Bankhead, Dalmeny
21 years - 1915 France - Royal Field Artillery - John Smith - Gilmerton, Liberton
18 years - 1918 Belgium - Seaforth highlanders - John Duthie Swayne - Perth
30 years - 1918 France - Royal Scots - Robert Todd - Peebles, Midlothian
18 years - 1918 France - Cameronians - William Trotter - Currie, Midlothian
26 years - 1915 France - Cameron Highlanders - William Turner - Haddington
41 years - 1917 Belgium - Royal Garrison Artillery - William Brown Wales - Aberdeen
27 years - 1914 France - Coldstream Guards - John Wilson - Rosebery Buildings, S.Q.
21 years - 1918 France - Scots Guards - George Shearlaw Young - Haddington
No Information
R Campbell
J Cullen
J C Nelson
R Robertson
A Rutherford

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The Bantam Regiment

14/3/2015

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Please hover over photo to read caption.

Recruitment poster for Bantam Regiment

A Biography by Sydney Allinson, available from Amazon.co.uk

James Sandercombe in uniform. Photo courtesy of Christine Vincenti

Charles Sandercombe, photo courtesy of Christine Vincenti

2 Men on Queensferry Memorial served in the 17th Battalion Royal Scots. William Ley, who died in 1917 and James Sandercombe who died in 1918.
Bantam Regiment- The 17th Battalion was formed in 1915 by Lord Rosebery and a local Committee in Edinburgh as a Bantam Battalion. This was for men who did not reach the regulation minimum height of 5ft 3 in (160cms) for enlisting.
They joined the 106th Brigade of the 35th Division. On 1.2.1916 they were mobilised for war and landed at Havre and engaged in various actions on the Western

What was a Bantam, or a Bantam unit?
'The bantam is a fighting cock; small but hardy and aggressive'.

The formation of the Bantams
In 1914 the MP for Birkenhead, Alfred Bigland, heard of a group of miners who, rejected from every recruiting office, had made their way to the town. One man, a Durham miner, was stopped from joining up as he was only 5ft 2in. By the time he reached Birkenhead he was so infuriated that he threatened to fight any man who said that the missing inch mattered.

Bantam applicants were men used to physical hard work, and Bigland was so incensed at what he saw as the needless rejection of spirited healthy men, he wrote to the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, for permission to form a battalion of men who were under regulation size but otherwise fit for service. When the permission was granted, news spread across the country and men previously denied the chance to fight, made their way to Birkenhead, 3,000 successful recruits many of whom had previously been rejected as being under height were accepted for service into two new "Bantam battalions" in November 1914. The new requirement for their height was between 4 ft 10in (147 cm) and 5 ft 3in (160 cm) with an expanded chest of 34in, one inch (2.5 cm) more than the army standard.
The original men were formed into the 1st and 2nd Birkenhead Battalions of the Cheshire Regiment (later redesignated the 15th and 16th Bns). Other regiments began to recruit similarly: the Lancashire Fusiliers, West Yorkshires, Royal Scots, and Highland Light Infantry most notably. Many of the recruits were miners. Eventually these units were formed into the 35th Division.

The idea quickly spread to other parts of the country. By the end of the war, 29 Bantam battalions had been created across three divisions - two British and one Canadian. Assuming roughly 1,000 men in each battalion, and allowing for casualties and replacements, more than 30,000 Bantam soldiers enlisted.

It was a dramatic turnaround. In the early phase of the war the army had used height restrictions to control numbers. In September 1914 the height requirement was raised from 5ft 3in (160cm) to 5ft 6in (167cm) because the authorities couldn't cope with the flood of recruits, In the first two months of war, three-quarters of a million men volunteered to fight, leading to overcrowding at recruiting offices.

When the rate of joining slowed, the height minimum was lowered to 5ft 4in in October, and in November to 5ft 3in. The following July, with the Western Front stuck in stalemate, the minimum dropped to 5ft 2in. Average height for men in 1914 would have been about 170cm (5ft 6in).

It is noted that Officers in Bantam Battalions were "normal" size.

By the end of 1916, it was found that the general fitness and condition of men volunteering as bantams was no longer up to the standard required. Brigades were informed that no more undersized men would be accepted, and the Divisions lost their bantam status as replacements diluted the number of small men in the mix.

© Queensferry History Group 2015

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Christmas in the Trenches

25/12/2014

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The Christmas Truce 1914

Peaceful and sometimes friendly interactions between opposing forces was a regular feature in quiet front-line sectors of the Western Front.

Though there was no official truce, roughly 100,000 British and German troops were involved in unofficial cessations of fighting along the length of the Western Front. Late on Christmas Eve 1914, near Armentiers, the British heard German troops in the trenches opposite them, singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches. Messages began to be shouted between the trenches. The following day, British and German soldiers met in No Man's Land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of football. As the message was passed from trench to trench, the ceasefire expanded along a 27 mile stretch and continued until the end of Christmas day. Both sides took the opportunity to recover the bodies of their compatriots and arrange their burial.

As the Peace Committee argues, 'These spontaneous acts of festive goodwill directly contradicted orders from high command, and offered an evocative and hopeful – albeit brief – recognition of shared humanity and thereby, give a rereading of the traditional Christmas message of 'on earth peace, good will toward men.'
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The truce was not observed everywhere along the Western Front. Elsewhere the fighting continued and casualties did occur on Christmas Day. Some officers were unhappy at the truce and worried that it would undermine fighting spirit.

After 1914, the High Commands on both sides tried to prevent any truces on a similar scale happening again. Despite this, there were some isolated incidents of soldiers holding brief truces later in the war, and not only at Christmas. In what was known as the 'Live and Let Live' system, in quiet sectors of the front line, brief pauses in the hostilities were sometimes tacitly agreed, allowing both sides to repair their trenches or gather their dead.

condensed from www.1914-18.net/truce.htm and wikipedia.

© Queensferry History Group 2014

Princess Mary's Christmas Box

In November 1914, an advert was placed in the National press asking for contributions to a Sailors & Soldiers Christmas Fund which had been created by Princess Mary, the 17 year old daughter of King George V and Queen Mary. The aim was to provide everyone wearing the King's uniform and serving overseas on Christmas Day 1914, with a gift from the nation.
With the money raised, an embossed brass box was designed which was engraved with an outline of the Princess, the words Christmas 1914 and monogrammed 'M'
The contents varied depending upon who was to receive them.
The majority contained a pipe, a lighter, 1oz of tobacco and twenty cigarettes in distinctive yellow monogrammed wrappers. However non-smokers and boys received a silver and brass bullet pencil and a packet of sweets instead.
Nurses serving abroad received chocolate,

King George V also sent a Christmas card to every soldier, sailor and nurse.
© Queensferry History Group 2014

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Please hover over photo to read caption.

Christmas in the Trenches

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