The story of the Shetlanders who signed up and would never make the trip home by Jon Sandison

Soldiers during Third Ypres, 1917. The desperate conditions were typical of the trenches. Photo sourced by Jon Sandison.

The story of the Western Front is a continual fixation of the Great War, but the First World War was a truly global conflict. Britain entered the war ostensibly to preserve Belgian neutrality but also to curtail German dominance of Europe. During the second half of the 20th century the war became linked to futility and waste – "Lions led by Donkeys". But with the centenary of the outbreak of the war, people are reassessing their views, often through a family-centric, "what did Grandad do in the war?" approach. Commemoration has taken place, both at home and abroad as we reflect on the "war to end all wars".

With Shetlanders experiencing every part of the developing land war campaigns, the human side and the personal stories are finally balancing with the wider more known tale of what happened. It is clear how important our own local war story is when driving around our islands, and passing war memorials in every community. The name of a soldier on a local memorial has either a gravestone or memorial inscription, whether it be in France, Belgium, Gallipoli, Salonika, Palestine or Mesopotamia. Some made it home to rest, a bit closer to their loved ones. Links to theatres of war elsewhere, Shetland's war memorials are poignant reminders of the local heritage connected to a global conflict. Any memorial or grave with a Shetlander on it in France and Belgium, continues to be a firm part of our heritage today, made even more significant with the arrival of the 100th anniversary.

The story of the Shetlander in the army was one linked to home, but also that of mainland Britain and across its empire. Men with home connections served across a wide spectrum of regiments. Some signed up locally, and joined the local territorials, connected to the Gordon Highlanders. Others joined Scottish regiments such as the Seaforth Highlanders, , Black Watch, Cameron Highlanders and . After the Gordon Highlanders, most enlisted with the Seaforths. Others, many living on the mainland already, often joined the nearest regiments such as the Northumberland or Lancashire Fusiliers, Scots Guards and Royal Garrison Artillery. Those who had emigrated just before the First World War, returned to serve as part of the Imperial Forces of the , such as the New Zealand, Australian and Canadian Expeditionary Forces. Shetlanders, or those with a Shetland connection, saw action all across the globe.

Men from all walks of life, both blue and white collar, flocked to the colours in the time of need. More Shetlanders served at sea than on the land. It is not surprising that with Shetland’s maritime connections many chose the navy. But the ratio of loss on the battlefields outnumbered those lost at sea. Many of the Shetland soldiers worked in the fishing industry, while others worked in shops, offices and trades. Others, were fresh out of school and further education, while some stayed and worked elsewhere, but had home connections.

Thomas Manson's Shetland Roll of Honour and Service estimates that somewhere around 4,300 men from Shetland were in the services during World War One, of which 500 who died were not resident in Shetland. Dr Linda Riddell recently calculated that around 30 per cent of the Shetlanders lost served in the army. A tally of the Roll of Honour and Service suggests over 1,070 served in the army. From this total, more than 270 were lost – around a quarter of those that served on land.

From those who served in the navy, both Royal and Merchant, more than 330 perished with losses amounting to around 10 per cent of those serving at sea. These figures are fluid with more continually being added via local and national research. For example, recent research via The Shetland Family History Society, and the University of Edinburgh Scotland’s War Project, have added further to the numbers. A reminder that war continues to have impact, and that there is much we are still learning.

Reasons for enlisting were varied. Peer pressure, lack of employment, economic reasons, a change of life, chance to see another country, escape, patriotism, and eventually conscription – introduced in early 1916 – all contributed locally, just as they did elsewhere. Some 300 Shetlanders were members of the prewar Territorial Force when war broke out, with over 100 enlisting for Imperial Service. They were in France by 1915. Sadly, 17 were killed in action throughout the war. Recruitment was initially very slow in Shetland. Those who joined up at home, did so via the local recruiting office or on the mainland. Those that had emigrated, mainly to Canada and Australia, did so there, returning back to fight for the homeland.

After Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, six infantry divisions and one cavalry division of the British Expeditionary Force with about 100,000 men in all, began embarkation for France between 11 and 23 August. All believed that it would be over by Christmas.

The fought astride the canal at Mons on 23 August was the first major confrontation which the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had with the German First Army, They were out-manoeuvred and outnumbered and pulled back more than 100 miles to south of the River Marne. The "Retreat From Mons" was to incorporate various "rear guard actions". With them was Private Robert Bolt of the 1st Cameron Highlanders. He was to become the first man with Shetland connections killed at the Battle of the Aisne in September, 1914.

Due to the limited size of the forces, Secretary of State for War, Lord Horatio Kitchener, looked to recruit two million further volunteers. Initially 100,000 volunteers were sought but this became 600,000. Eventually the rate of volunteers slowed so that conscription had to be introduced. With the "", each side looked to outflank the other. such as First Ypres took place. Here, nearly every frontline unit lost 70 per cent of their fighting strength.

It was during this phase that Private Thomas Hardy, of the Gordon Highlanders was lost. Prior to his death, he had written letters to his mother which were published in The Shetland Times. It is well known now how the war moved early on from a war of movement to the stalemate of . Hardy was killed at a stage where trench warfare was beginning to take shape. His mother, Jessie, was to lose two other sons and she unveiled the Shetland War Memorial in 1924.

There were to be more Shetland casualties by the by end of 1914. At this stage, both sides consolidated their positions, with the Germans selecting high ground and building up strong defensive positions. Both sides looked to achieve a breakthrough. Other key confrontations were to follow including early in 1915, Neuve Chapelle in March, Second Ypres in April/May, which saw the first use of poisonous gas, and Festubert in May 1915. Two lads with Shetland parents, Thomas H K Laurence, from Yell, and James John Irvine, from Nesting, were killed within a day of each other at Second Ypres serving with the Canadian Brigades.

The land war had already widened beyond the Western Front. During April 1915, the Allied Forces landed at the Dardanelles with the intention of creating another front and putting extra pressure on the . Here, Oliver Goodlad, born in Burra, was killed as a result of a mine explosion on 28 May. He was serving with the Australian Infantry. The entry of Turkey into the war, prompted Britain to open a new front in the Ottoman province of Mesopotamia. During 1915, and into 1916 the Amara took place. An 8,000 strong British•Indian garrison was besieged in this town, 100 miles south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. James John Nelson of the Seaforth Highlanders was killed in action trying to relieve this siege on 7 January 1916. Born and enlisted in Lerwick, he is commemorated on the Basra Memorial.

Further offensives on the Western Front continued later in the year. The in September and October 1915, witnessed large Scottish loss. At least three with Shetland connections were killed here – two of them in the Black Watch.

Back home in Shetland, as elsewhere, local territorials were getting ready to depart. The realisation was clear nationally that this was going to be a long haul. Having guarded cable positions since the outbreak in 1914, they left our islands on 13 June 1915 via troopship Cambria with over 200 on board. It was a significant day both in Ler- wick's and Shetland’s history. After training at Perth throughout the summer and autumn, they would be in France by the end of 1915. Many of these men would be lost at the Somme during 1916, as well as Arras in 1917.

Soldiers marching on the Somme, 1916. © IWM.

By 1916 the Western Front had developed into a war of attrition. With the French held down and fighting for survival at Verdun, pressure was placed on the British to launch an offensive in the Somme valley. Launched on 1 July, the futility of this battle is hauntingly etched upon national sub consciousness. It was the start of the end for the Germans as the British slowly learned the tactics required to defeat them on the field of battle; albeit with huge losses.

Among Shetlanders casualties were high across numerous regiments in this battle, including nine local lads within the Seaforth Highlanders lost between July and October. The Somme was never intended to be just a July battle. However, the fighting continued until November. During the Battle of the Ancre, 13 , an estimated 17 Shetlanders were killed with the attack on Beaumont Hamel and Serre; most of them Gordons and Territorials. Given the loss over such a short space of time, this was in many ways Shetland's 'Somme'.

In early December, The Shetland Times poignantly reported that, "It is needless to say that the full extent of the calamity, so far as can now be known, had completely stunned the community. That so large a sacrifice should have been demanded out of so small a district must always remain an enigma. That such a big inroad into the life of Lerwick and its immediate surrounding districts caused widespread sorrow, is putting it very mild."

One of them was Joseph Anderson, former pupil of Anderson Educational Institute, aged 24. He was in the Sportsman's Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, and was the son of Lerwick solicitor, J B Anderson. A lengthy account of Joseph's death was given via a fellow soldier writing home to his family. It was noted that he was one of the first Shetland casualties at the Ancre.

In the morning of the13th we attacked in the front wave. Joe was one of the first few groups to reach the second line. He and his team came into immediate contact with a German machine gun which had just been brought up from its dugout ... Joe fired and hit at least two of the Boche team before a shot from one of them struck him in the head and killed him instantly. It was a gallant piece of work, and Joe took a leading part in it. He certainly saved the life of his gun, and many lives he must have saved too by leading the way in the destruction of a gun that would have had a heavy toll had it been allowed to get to business.

The sympathies of many men in the Battalion who knew and admired Joe, and heard of and applauded his deed, go out to you in your bereavement. Most of all my own sympathies, for the loss is a very great one to me and that perhaps enables me to realise your loss and feel with you the more.

After the Somme offensive stalled in late 1916 there were further offensives in the spring of 1917 with an attempt to make a breakthrough further north. At Vimy Ridge and Arras during April and May, over 20 Shetlanders fell; both British offensives to support French attacks on the Chemin Des Dames. Again, Shetlanders wrote home about their experiences. One, Private James Stout of the Seaforth Highlanders, writing to his parents in The Shetland Times on May 5th said:

We journeyed on from there past what had been our front line trenches across. 'No Man’s Land' and enemy lines of trenches. What an upheaval had been made by our artillery! Almost every yard of ground had been torn up by our shellfire. I had got about 300 yards when something struck me on top of the head and I fell flat. I was stunned for about 10 minutes, and when I put my hand up expecting to feel a gash in my head, lo and behold, there was nothing but a small lump about the size of a shilling.

I ventured to take off my helmet because the bullets seemed to be flying at a higher range and found that a bullet had penetrated my helmet, followed the curve of the crown inside, and found a way out over my back or shoulder. It gave me a bit of a shock at first to think of the narrow shave I’d had.

Troops of the Seaforths Regiment clearing trenches during Arras, April 1917.

The Shetland News, Thursday May 10th 1917, recorded that Mr Peter Garrick, Ollabery, received word from the Canadian record office that his son, Private Arthur T Garrick, of the Canadian Expeditionary Force had been wounded and was in hospital. In a letter to his father, Private Garrick described the fighting at the redoubtable Vimy Ridge, the storming of which by the Canadians had covered the troops of the Dominion with imperishable glory and struck a reeling blow at the German army.

I posted a card the other day by which you would know that I came safely through the big scrap, albeit I got slightly hit. I got hit on the night of the 12th, on the forearm and the thigh, with shrapnel, but didn’t go out.

At Arras, slightly south, there was further cost to Shetland mainly spread across the Seaforth and Gordon Highlanders. One of the Gordons who was wounded, John Sim, is buried in Lerwick Cemetery having died from his wounds in early 1919.

Little progress was made, and in the summer, British Commander-in-Chief General Douglas Haig launched an offensive to break out of the Ypres Salient to the north in Flanders. The third battle of Ypres began with the blowing of 19 mines under the Germans on the Messines Ridge in June 1917. There then followed a most bloody battle which today is known as Passchendaele, fought in most unseasonal and wet weather from July to November 1917; the battlefield turned into a quagmire. It was to last from 31 July to 6 November, and had eight phases. During the first day of Ypres Lieutenant John Henry Clifford Grierson, of Helendale, Lerwick was killed. Details of his death were even included in the Official History of the Gordon Highlanders.

The morning was apparently overcast, so that it was still dark. In a landscape that was so scarred, landmarks as existed were unrecognizable. Apart from the usual machine•gun fire, there was hand-to•hand fighting short of the first objective, one officer, Lieutenant J H C Grierson, afterwards himself killed, was recorded as seen to kill a German with a bayonet. The fighting was fierce, but the first objective was secured by 4:45 without serious loss.

The British Expeditionary Force suffered more than 300,000 estimated casualties during this battle of which over 30 had a Shetland connection. 20 November 1917 also witnessed the , further south. It was an attempt to break the German line with the first mass use of tanks, in cooperation with an artillery fire plan and aerial assistance. It was a first all-arms offensive showing the learning curve of the BEF. Three Shetlanders were killed that day.

In the spring of 1918, the Germans launched their first offensive since 1915, with the overall aim of breaking the deadlock on the Western Front before the United States Army was ready. The aim was to punch through the Allied defensive line and split the British forces from the French. Different phases of the German offensive continued until July and early August. One of many, Private William G J Tulloch of the Black Watch, was killed on 19 July. On the day he was killed it was noted that the Black Watch had attempted to take a position. There was severe infantry and machine gun fire from a hedge, and the Black Watch pulled back with serious losses to their original trenches William is buried in Meteren Military Cemetery.

The Allies launched various offensives against the weakening German defensive line just north of the Somme. On 8 August 1918, at the the tide turned for the final time as massed British armour broke the German line and from this point until November, the war took on a mobile phase and the trenches were left behind. Guards- man Private James Laurence William son Erasmuson, Guards Machine Gun Regiment, was killed in early September during the second as his Battalion met with strong resistance attempting to capture the line. His parents were formerly of Chromate Lane, Lerwick, where he had been born and enlisted.

The last major line of German resistance, the heavily defended Hindenburg Line, was breached in late September. Following this, there was the final Allied push back to Mons, where it had all began. The Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918.

During the war approximately six million British men were mobilised for the army, and of those just over 700,000 were killed – around 11.5 per cent. Shetland’s cost within the army was more than double this figure. For those that came home, the familiar story seems to be that they suffered in silence.

The effects of their involvement in war were permanent; those that came home, mentally scarred in some cases, had experiences that would never leave them. Most kept their memories quiet, to themselves, unwilling to share it with anyone, perhaps sometimes only with those who had also gone through it.

What would we ask them if they were still here? Ironically we might ask, in the words of the famous cynical propaganda poster: "Daddy, what did you do in the Great War?"