HILLFOOTS ARMED FORCES FATALITIES 1914 - 1919 COMPILED FROM HISTORICAL RECORDS BY IAN MIDDLETON CONTENTS 2 Introduction 11 Acknowledgements 12 Key to detailed descriptions 13 The Hillfoots war dead 149 Appendix 1a: unidentified soldiers 150 Appendix 1b: unverified information 151 Appendix 2: Hillfoots war memorials 151 Alva War Memorial 155 Alva St Serf’s stone memorial plaque 157 Alva Parish Church memorial plaque 158 Alva West United Free Church memorial plaque 159 Coalsnaughton War Memorial 161 Dollar Academy War Memorial 170 Dollar Parish Church memorial plaque 172 Dollar West Church memorial plaque 174 Dollar St James the Great Church memorial plaque 175 Menstrie War Memorial 178 Muckhart War Memorial 180 Tillicoultry War Memorial 183 Tillicoultry Parish Church memorial plaques and stained glass window 185 Tillicoultry E.U. Congregational Church font 186 Appendix 3: Hillfoots rolls of honour 186 Alva Eadie United Free Church roll of honour 188 Alva Oddfellows Lodge roll of honour 191 Dollar Parish Church roll of honour 196 Dollar United Free Church roll of honour 199 Devon Valley Tribune roll of honour 206 Bibliography Cover image: Tillicoultry War Memorial 1 INTRODUCTION 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. This study looks in detail at those armed forces personnel from the Hillfoots towns of Clackmannanshire who died in the conflict. Over 550 fatalities with close links to the area have been identified so far. Of these, approximately 475 are commemorated on the local war memorials at Alva, Coalsnaughton, Dollar, Menstrie, Muckhart and Tillicoultry. The remaining seventy five or so may be commemorated elsewhere. In this study I have attempted to expand on the few details provided on the memorials to give a better understanding of the lives of those who died. By drawing together information from a variety of sources – from local newspapers to military service records, war grave databases and official government archives – it is possible to build portraits, however fragmentary, of the civilian lives of these people and their experiences during the war. These portraits vary in depth, but can perhaps still teach us something of the generation of a century ago. The detailed descriptions all follow the same format, beginning with the personal history of each individual, such as date and place of birth, parents’ names, occupations and so on, followed by their military history, including rank, service number(s), regiment(s) served in, when, where and how they died, and where they are buried or commemorated. The identification process involves finding pieces of information from reliable sources which link the person and their military identity to the relevant Hillfoots town. In a few cases it has not yet been possible to identify an individual. In cases where a potential, but inconclusive identity has been found, the details have been noted in Appendix 1. I have tried to be as accurate as I can with every piece of information, although there may be some errors and omissions to be corrected in the future. For example, there are known to be some factual errors in the newspaper reports used as sources. THE LOCAL WAR MEMORIALS At least one World War I memorial can be found in each Hillfoots town. The main ones at Alva and Menstrie are situated within public parks. Those at Coalsnaughton and Muckhart are also in public spaces, the former next to the community centre and the latter in a small area beside the main road, close to the Coronation Hall. The World War I memorial at Tillicoultry is located within the cemetery, with a semicircle of headstones placed around it, each commemorating a soldier from World War II. The main memorial at Dollar can be found within the grounds of the Academy. On it are the names of 179 men, and one woman, who died in the war. 161 of these are known to have been pupils at the school. Some of them were from outside the Hillfoots area. One panel on the Academy memorial gives the names of fourteen men who were from the Parish of Dollar. Most of these are thought not to have attended the school. Three members of staff are also named on the memorial. 2 Two of the four panels at Dollar Academy War Memorial There are also memorial plaques to World War I in some Hillfoots churches. Dollar Parish Church contains two, one of which was previously housed in Dollar West Church before the two congregations joined together. Dollar St James the Great Church contains a plaque with the names of nine casualties from its congregation. There are two World War I plaques and a dedicated stained glass window inside Tillicoultry Parish Church. A stone plaque was previously located in Alva St Serf’s Church. The church was destroyed by fire and the cracked stone was thrown into a skip, but was later retrieved and is now on display in Alva Cemetery waiting room. The current Alva Parish Church has a plaque on the wall in the entrance hall. Several plaques from the various former Alva churches are also kept there. The amount of information provided on each war memorial varies. At most the name, rank, regiment, battalion and military awards of a soldier are stated, such as at Menstrie and Muckhart. At the other end of the scale, including at Tillicoultry and Coalsnaughton, only names are provided. There are further variations in how the names on each memorial are arranged. Coalsnaughton War Memorial and those in the Dollar churches are ordered alphabetically. At Alva War Memorial the men are listed in order of rank first within each surname first letter, then alphabetically. The Alva St Serf’s stone plaque follows a similar pattern. The majority of names on Tillicoultry War Memorial are in alphabetical order, although some at the lower end of each column are not in sequence and may have been added after the main group was carved. Muckhart War Memorial is arranged by rank, while Dollar Academy War Memorial is grouped first by regiment, then by rank, then alphabetically. Menstrie War Memorial is approximately ordered by date of death, although some names are out of strict sequence. A full transcription of each known memorial is given in Appendix 2. Photographs have also been included. 3 Menstrie (left) and Muckhart World War I Memorials Transcriptions of known rolls of honour can be found in Appendix 3. These are lists of those who served in the war from a particular area, church or society. They may also indicate which ones died during the conflict. One such roll is stored in Alva Parish Church. Another, listing the members of Alva Lodge of Oddfellows who served in the war, can be found in Alva Cemetery waiting room. Two rolls from the Dollar churches are on display at Dollar Museum. One final list, which was compiled in March 1915 and published in the Devon Valley Tribune, a Tillicoultry newspaper, names all the men from Tillicoultry and Coalsnaughton who joined up early in the war. SOME FINDINGS OF THE STUDY The overriding sense one finds in this study is of ordinary lives being cut short and of how much suffering the war caused. There was a patriotic fervour in Britain at the start of hostilities. Anti-German feeling was running high, so much so that a German pork butcher’s shop in Alloa was attacked by a mob of 2000 after the sinking of the Lusitania.1 Many initially thought the war would not last long, but as the fighting along the Western Front dragged on, with both sides losing countless men for the gain or loss of a few yards, a weariness set in. The Dollar Magazine commented on one fallen British soldier’s ‘twofold conviction of the madness of war and of the rightness of our cause.’2 The Reverend Williamson, who lost a son to the conflict in July 1916, expressed the hope that the ultimate end of the war would be an end to war itself, ‘from very disgust of it.’3 Some went to war at the outset, propelled by a strong sense of duty. Others, no doubt, were less keen. There was considerable pressure upon young men to enlist. Initially, recruitment was on a voluntary basis and men between the ages of 19 and 30 were sought, although younger men are 1 Alloa Advertiser 22/05/1915, page 3. 2 Dollar Magazine 1917, pages 181 – 2. 3 Alloa Advertiser 12/05/1917, page 3. 4 known to have been accepted. The upper age limit was soon extended to 35 in a bid to increase the army’s strength. The lower height limit of 5’ 3” was also reduced by an inch. In addition, ex-soldiers up to the age of 42 were sought. Conscription was introduced in 1916. Conscientious objectors were mocked and criticised in the local press. There was debate locally as to whether married men should be exempt from military service. Tribunals were set up to adjudicate on such requests, and for those who claimed to have a vital occupational role at home. Men from the study area were represented in most, if not all, of the Scottish regiments. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), Cameron Highlanders, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), Gordon Highlanders, Highland Light Infantry, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) and Seaforth Highlanders all included recruits from the Hillfoots, as did some English, Canadian, Australian and American regiments. A few served in the Royal Navy, the Mercantile Marine or the Royal Flying Corps, which was renamed the Royal Air Force during the war. The local regiment was the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 7th Battalion.