Private Franklin Greig Robertson
Franklin Greig Robertson was born on 11th August 1893 at Barns of Claverhouse, near Dundee.1 He was one of the large family of John and Jessie Robertson, having several brothers and sisters both older and younger than himself. His father was a ploughman from Monifieth and his mother, Jessie, was originally from Auchtergaven, an area in Perthshire that includes Bankfoot and much of Stanley. The family appear to have moved quite frequently, living initially at Auchtergaven but also living in Murroes, near Forfar; Auchterhouse; Barns of Claverhouse and Arbirlot, near Arbroath.2,3 John and Jessie were living at Rose Cottage in Kettins at the time of Franklin’s death in 19164 but were later living in Drumkilbo Cottages, Meigle.5
Rose Cottage, Kettins6
Franklin enlisted into the 1/4th (City of Dundee) Battalion of the Black Watch, seeing his first active service in France on 24th February 1915.7 Due to the extent of the losses incurred by the 1/4th and 1/5th (Angus) Battalions, the two Battalions amalgamated in March 1916 to form the 4/5th (Angus and Dundee) Battalion.8 Sometime between March and July 1916. He was then transferred again into the 1/7th (Fife) Battalion of the Black Watch.9,10
He is recorded as being severely wounded during the evacuation of a sap, a trench leading out from the front line trench into No Mans Land. Although he received first aid on the field, he died on 30 July 1916 before being seen by any doctor or reaching hospital.11 However, 30 July 1916 is significant for the 1/7th Battalion, as they were involved in a major assault on High Wood on the Somme, the last of the major woods to fall in the British Somme offensive of 1916, during which the Battalion incurred a very large number of casualties. Prior to the battle, the Germans had been reinforcing the Wood’s defences. The British were well aware of this from their aerial reconnaissance but an attack on the Wood went ahead nonetheless, in the evening of 30th July. The attack was preceded by a concerted attempt to destroy the German machine gun posts defending the Wood with shellfire and to provide a creeping barrage to protect the advancing troops. The 19th Division had some initial success, taking Intermediate Trench, close to High Wood itself. However, the mortars of the 1/7th Black Watch made little impact on their main objective, the redoubt at the eastern corner of the Wood, which continued to maintain intense machine gun fire against their attackers. The intensity of gunfire, combined with particularly accurate shelling from the enemy, prevented the Battalion from making any headway and forced them to withdraw back to their original positions.12 A further attack by the 14th Royal Warwickshires on Wood Lane, which leads from this eastern corner of the Wood, resulted in 171 of their 468 men involved in the action becoming casualties.13
Trench Map of High Wood, September 191614
At the end of this last attack in July, there were very few gains, and High Wood was still firmly in German hands, although the intense shelling by both sides had completely shattered and transformed the landscape of the Wood. The German casualties, for the six regiments of the defenders of the Wood, totalled almost 10,000 in July alone, of whom nearly 2,000 were killed.15 High Wood remained in German hands until 15th September 1916 when it was finally taken by the British.
It was never fully cleared after the war, and it is estimated that the remains of around 8000 soldiers, British and German, still lie today in High Wood.16 Franklin Greig Robertson’s grave is in the Serre Road No 2 Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery on the Somme17 and he is also commemorated on both the Meigle and the Ardler war memorials. The report of his death in the Blairgowrie Advertiser described him as “an extremely fine lad, and greatly loved by his officers and mates”.18
Serre Road No 2 Cemetery19
References 1 Birth registration, Franklin Greig Robertson, 1893 RD:307-01, 1893 Births in the Parish of Mains in the County of Forfar, p24. 2 1891 census, 5 April 1891, Parish: Mains; ED: 4; Page: 9; Line: 18; Roll: CSSCT1891_102. 3 1901 census, 31 March 1901, Parish: Arbirlot; ED: 2; Page: 11; Line: 12; Roll: CSSCT1901_85. 4 Death notice in Blairgowrie Advertiser, 25 November 1916. 5 Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, ROBERTSON, FRANKLIN GREIG, http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/609737/ROBERTSON,%20FRANKLIN%20GREIG, Accessed 4 May 2014. 6 Photograph by the Author, taken 15 September 2014. 7 Army Medal Office, WWI Medal Index Card, Franklin Robertson, In the care of The Western Front Association website.
8 Baker, Chris, The Long Long Trail website, The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), ©1995-2014 ~ Chris Baker/Milverton Associates Ltd ~ All Rights Reserved, http://www.1914-1918.net/blackwatch.htm, Accessed 28 April 2014. 9 Op cit Commonwealth War Grave s Commission website, ROBERTSON, FRANKLIN GREIG. 10 Op cit Army Medal Office, WWI Medal Index Card. 11 Op cit Death notice in Blairgowrie Advertiser. 12 Norman, Terry, The Hell They Called High Wood, William Kimber & Co, 1984, p173-175. 13 Op cit Norman, Terry, p177. 14 Baker, Chris, The Long Long Trail website forum, C Sap, ©1995-2014 ~ Chris Baker/Milverton Associates Ltd ~ All Rights Reserved, http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=163239, Accessed 28 April 2014. 15 Payne, Dr David, The Woods And Copses: Nature's Fortresses of the Somme on the Western Front, (via Western Front Association website, http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/61-battlefields/422-woods-somme.html, Accessed 4 May 2014. 16 Jennings, Alan, World War One Battlefields website, High Wood, http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/high_wood.html, Accessed 4 May 2014. 17 Op cit Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, ROBERTSON, FRANKLIN GREIG. 18 Op cit Death notice in Blairgowrie Advertiser. 19 Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, SERRE ROAD CEMETERY No.2, http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/67200/SERRE%20ROAD%20CEMETERY%20No.2, Accessed 4 May 2014.