Moray in March 1915 - as reported in The Northern Scot

6 March 1915

The attempted forcing of the by the British and French navies was the main subject of the war news in the 6 March 1915 edition of The Northern Scot and a statement from the Secretary of the Admiralty was published. It said: ‘The attack upon the fortresses of the Dardanelles was continued on Thursday. The Admiral has not yet reported the results within the Straights. Outside HMS Dublin demolished an observation station on the Gallipoli peninsular, and HMS Sapphire bombarded guns and troops at various points in the Gulf of Abramytl. Six modern field guns near Fort B have been destroyed bringing the total number of guns demolished up to 40. French battleships have bombarded the Bulair forts and wrecked the Kanak bridge.’ In reality the ship’s guns were not best suited to the task given to them and the Turks were able to move many of their guns around and re-site them. With Turkish guns on both sides of the Narrows the passage through the Dardanelles was never going to be easy and it was becoming apparent that land forces would be needed to decide the battle; plans to transport an army to the Middle East were therefore put in place.

In the same edition the youngsters of Elgin came in for further criticism as reported under the headline ‘Elgin’s Lazy Girls: Strictures by the Relief Committee’. The report stated: ‘Are the unemployed girls of Elgin unwilling to work? The serious charge was levelled against them at a meeting of the Relief Fund Committee held on Thursday evening – Mr Wm. Lipp presiding. Mr A.G. Cockburn, town clerk, read a letter which he had received from the secretary of the Scottish Committee on Women’s Employment, stating that she noted the women and girls who were getting relief had never received training in mending and darning. She was sure the ladies of the local committee would agree that, as far at least as the younger women were concerned, some instruction in sewing would be very valuable to them. It would, of course, be necessary to engage the services of a competent forewoman to instruct the women, and, if there was no suitable person in the city for this post, her committee would be very glad to help them to get one elsewhere. If the local committee could obtain the use of a hall where women might be gathered together under a forewoman and learn to mend their own garments and make children’s clothing, her committee would be very glad to consider recommending a grant to pay the expenses of the scheme. These expenses would include wages to the forewoman, materials etc. and wages to the women employed at the rate of 3d [1 pence] per hour up to a maximum of 10s [50 pence] per week.’ The report then continued with comments about how ‘A lot of the girls were going about doing nothing and simply getting relief’ and that ‘the girls had made no effort to secure work or fall in with the arrangements made for them by the School Board to form a class for domestic service.’ A new committee was then formed to put the suggestion into action. In the pre-Welfare State days the poor were looked after by the local relief committees and at times there was little sympathy shown over the plight of the unemployed.

The outbreak of meningitis was continuing and in the previous week ‘four positive cases of cerebro-spinal fever have occurred in the burgh of Elgin, making a total of eight positive cases since the outbreak. Last week one death was reported. It is very regrettable that three other deaths, all young people, have taken place this week, bringing the total number of deaths to four.’ The report concludes: ‘The public health authorities are doing all in their power to prevent the further spread of the fever. Handbills have been posted up all over the town warning the inhabitants not to spit on the streets or pavements, and cigarette smokers are particularly cautioned when they throw cigarettes away, to put their foot on them. Many children make a practice of picking up their “ends” and smoking them, and it is believed this abominable practice may be responsible for some of the cases.’ If this was the case the authorities were right to give a salutary warning of the hazards associated with poor standards of hygiene.

In early 1915 a number of cartoon sketches were published by The Northern Scot illustrating life at Bedford for the men of the Highland Division undergoing training. The original caption is below: -

‘We have pleasure in reproducing a realistic picture of Morayshire Seaforths banqueting in their Bedford billet. The sketch is by Private Stewart Knock, 6th Seaforths’.

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle 10 - 13 March 1915

Under the heading ‘Labyrinth of Trenches Captured’ the 13 March 1915 edition of The Northern Scot gave the first tentative reports of fighting at Neuve Chapelle, about eight miles south of Armentièries. The Battle of Neuve Chapelle is significant as the first offensive by the British Expeditionary Force in 1915, with the aim of pinching out a bulge in the German front line and opening the way to Aubers Ridge to the east. The battle began on 10 March 1915 and involved the British 8th Division north of the village and the Meerut Division of the Indian Army to the south. Attacking towards the south-east and north-east respectively they were to encircle Neuve Chapelle, meet up and, once a new line east of the village was consolidated, advance towards the higher ground of the Aubers Ridge.

An unprecedented number of artillery pieces had been assembled and 350 guns fired an intense 35-minute bombardment before the infantry advanced at 8:05 a.m. In the south the Garhwal Brigade attacked over a front of 600 yards but one battalion, the 1/39th Garwhal Rifles, lost direction and veered to their right and, although fighting their way into the German trenches, were separated from the others by about 300 yards. This mistake would cost them, and those who tried to support them, a heavy toll in casualties.

On the other side of the village the attack by the 25th Brigade went well and by 8:50 a.m. the men of the 2nd Rifle Brigade had linked up with Indian troops east of the village and clearing the village had begun. The northernmost part of the attack by the 23rd Brigade did not go well, largely due to the failure of part of its artillery plan when two six-inch howitzer batteries, having been delayed and only arriving hours before the battle, didn’t have sufficient time to register their guns and failed to destroy the German trenches north of the village. The 2nd Scottish Rifles and 2nd Middlesex paid the price and suffered heavy casualties as they tried to fight their way forward.

In the afternoon the battalions of the Dehra Dun Brigade, including the 1st and 4th Seaforth Highlanders, with whom a number of local men were serving, were sent forward to advance on a wood, the Bois du Biez. They reached a stream, the Layes Brook, unopposed and crossed it with some difficulty, but in the failing light were met with machine-gun fire as they crossed the final 400 yards to the wood. German reinforcements had arrived in sufficient strength to halt the advance and without further support the British battalions had to withdraw back to the Layes Brook. During the battle the 4th Seaforth had nearly 50 officers and men killed.

The first day had been largely successful in that Neuve Chapelle had been captured, but the Germans had quickly sent reinforcements forward and thereafter every piece of ground was fiercely contested. The 11 March was marked by a further attempt by the British to capture the objectives not reached the previous day, but little progress was made against stiffening German resistance.

By 12 March the Germans had assembled 16,000 troops for a counter-attack launched at 5:00 a.m. following a half-hour artillery bombardment. This was to be a day of great bravery in which eight Victoria Crosses were awarded; one to Morayshire-born Corporal William Anderson of the 2nd Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards). William Anderson had already distinguished himself the previous day when: ‘A very brilliant attack was made on the enemy by the Battalion bombers under No. 8191 Corporal W. Anderson, who, with only nine other men, succeeded in bombing out and capturing sixty-two Germans in a trench opposite the left of the Green Howards.’ When the German counter-attack captured some trenches held by the 2nd Wiltshires, William Anderson was instrumental in retaking the lost positions and the citation for the award of the VC said: ‘For most conspicuous bravery at Neuve Chapelle on 12th March, 1915, when he led three men with bombs against a large party of the enemy who had entered our trenches, and by his prompt and determined action saved, what might have otherwise have become, a serious situation. Corporal Anderson first threw his own bombs, then those in possession of his three men (who had been wounded) amongst the Germans, after which he opened up rapid rifle fire upon them with great effect, notwithstanding that he was quite alone.’ In this action he was also reported as capturing another 60 prisoners, talking his total to more than 120 in two days, a remarkable feat.

Major Leatham wrote to William Anderson’s fiancée saying: ‘He was one of the bravest men I have ever seen.... when I saw him during his act he was untouched and the Germans were driven back. I did not see him again, but from what I found out he was wounded later in the day. I fear he must have been killed as his pay book was eventually sent to us. We have tried to find out who found his body and where he was buried, but without success.’

Although the battle of Neuve Chapelle was effectively finished on the evening of the 12th a small attack was made the following morning at 9:30 a.m. to try and push forward to the Mauquissart to Champigny Road but it was repulsed with heavy loss, particularly to the 1st Grenadier Guards and the Banffshire Territorials, the 6th Gordon Highlanders. General Rawlinson recorded his praise in a letter to Field Marshal Kitchener: ‘The men fought magnificently. They charged the enemy’s works repeatedly and one of the battalions which made the most effort was the 6th Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders. They dashed forward with the utmost gallantry and showed the way to several regular battalions.’ High praise, but their bravery cost the lives of their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Colin McLean, four other officers and 34 men, with many more wounded.

20 March 1915

A week on from the Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Northern Scot devoted much of its war coverage to the large number of local casualties, especially from the Banffshire Gordons, many of whom came from Keith, Buckie, Dufftown and Aberlour. As well as those listed as being killed, more than 30 wounded men were listed along with biographical notes on each of them.

One of the wounded officers was Captain Charles Grant, Dufftown. The Northern Scot reported: ‘Captain Grant is a member of the well-known distilling firm of Messrs William Grant & Sons, Glenfiddich and Balvenie Distilleries and is associated with his brother-in-law, Mr C. Gordon, in the company’s wholesale distributing and export warehouse in Glasgow.... Captain Grant was long connected with the old Dufftown Volunteers, passing through all the ranks from private to lieutenant. On the outbreak of war he offered his services, but was not accepted, being just beyond the age. The age limit being extended, he again volunteered, and was accepted.’

At the other end of the age spectrum was an underage soldier (to serve abroad they should have been 19 years old): ‘Private Ian Macdonald is the son of Mr John Macdonald, Royal Hotel, Keith, formerly manager of the Forsyth Hotel, Aberlour. Ian is wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel. He is an old Gordon College boy, and, only sixteen years of age, is one of the youngest who has fought in the war on the side of the British. He enlisted in the 6th Gordons at the time of mobilisation.... Private Macdonald is in Kent VAD Hospital, Ramsgate.’

There was some better news for two families as the Red Cross had notified the War Office that their loved ones were prisoners of war in Germany. It could take a number of months for the news to reach home and the anguish of not knowing their fate must have been hard to bear: ‘Mrs Kemp, residing at 108 Findhorn, whose husband, Private Kemp, 2nd Seaforths, has been missing since October 13, has now been officially informed by the War Office that he is a prisoner of war... Private Kemp took part in the north-west frontier campaign in India in 1908, but he left the Army two years ago, and was called up at the outbreak of war. He was employed as a farm servant in the Duffus district.’ The other report read: ‘Intimation was received in Buckie on Wednesday that Private Allan Grigor, 1st Gordon Highlanders, who was wounded at Mons, is now a prisoner in Germany. Private Grigor was a painter, and his mother resides in Union Terrace, Buckie, and he has been missing since the end of November.’

Further afield a report on the attempts by the navy to force the Dardanelles had a sub heading of ‘Eleven Miles Clear of Mines’. The minesweeping had been done by many small vessels, some of them fishing boats impressed into naval service but, while they may have removed much of the danger, the Turks were observing the larger ships and saw that as a matter of routine they turned to starboard into Erinkui Bay when withdrawing. The Turks then laid a row of mines in the bay one night and HMS Irresistible (a 15,000 ton pre-dreadnaught battleship) struck one at 4:16 p.m. local time on 18 March. Badly damaged the starboard engine room flooded (only three men escaped) before the bulkhead gave way and the port engine room also began to flood. With no power, listing to starboard and down by the stern she floated helpless into the range of enemy guns that opened fire and pounded her from the shore. The surviving crew, except the captain and some volunteers, were taken off by the HMS Wear. HMS Ocean (another pre-dreadnaught battleship) was sent to get the Irresistible under tow but her list, the shallow water and the enemy artillery fire made that impossible. Ocean did manage to get the remaining men off, but at 6:05 p.m. struck a mine herself. She was abandoned at 7:30 p.m. with few casualties, and sank about three hours later. The battlecruiser HMS Inflexible had also struck a mine that blew a large hole in her bow allowing about 1,600 tons of water to flood in drowning 39 men. She was only saved by beaching her on the Greek controlled island of Tenedos where temporary repairs were carried out a 9 x 6 metre hole, before she limped to the naval dockyard at Malta for further repair.

It had been a very bad day for the allies as three French battleships were also badly damaged or sunk. The Suffren and the Gaulois were both damaged by artillery fire from the shore; the latter had a 7 metre long gap opened up between two armour plates that allowed a large quantity of water to flood in. Like the Inflexible she was beached on a nearby island to stop her sinking while temporary repairs were made. The most catastrophic loss was that of the 12,000 ton Bouvet that struck a mine and sank within two minutes; from her compliment of 710 officers and men, 660 were killed. 27 March 1915

The 27 March 1915 edition of The Northern Scot continued to list casualties from the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, and one who was badly wounded and lucky to survive was Company Sergeant-Major James Jefferson, 6th Gordon Highlanders. A report stated that he ‘was wounded in no fewer than eight places, including three fingers of his right hand, his right forearm, elbow, and shoulder, the forefinger of his left hand, both legs, and also in the head. This is surely a record in narrow escapes.’ The report also comments that his younger brother, Lance Corporal J.W Jefferson, had also been wounded a month previously.

By early 1915 German were sinking significant numbers of ships and a report described how on 25 March the U28 had sunk by gunfire the Dutch ship Medea in the English Channel off Beachy Head, Sussex. The crew had been given time to take to their lifeboats and were ultimately rescued by HMS Teviot and landed in Dover. Following the British declaration in November 1914 that the whole of the North Sea was a War Zone in order to enforce the blockade on Germany, Admiral von Pohl, commander of the German High Seas Fleet, announced in February 1915 that: -

1. The waters around Great Britain and Ireland, including the whole of the English Channel, are hereby declared to be a War Zone. From February 18 onwards every enemy merchant vessel encountered in this zone will be destroyed, nor will it always be possible to avert the danger thereby threatened to the crew and passengers.

2. Neutral vessels also will run a risk in the War Zone, because in view of the hazards of sea warfare and the British authorization of January 31 of the misuse of neutral flags, it may not always be possible to prevent attacks on enemy ships from harming neutral ships.

The Medea was from neutral Holland and, as well as flying the Dutch flag, had ‘Medea – Amsterdam’ painted in large letters on her side, but the enemy submariners had still considered her a legitimate target.

The submarines did not have it all their own way and a report headed ‘End of Pirate U29’ said that the U29 had been sunk after a brief but eventful career in which it sank four ships and damaged two others between the 11 and 14 March on a voyage through the Channel, round Land’s End and past the Scilly Isles. After another four days sailing north the U29 was in the Pentland Firth when she fired a torpedo at HMS Neptune, but then made the mistake of surfacing in front of HMS Dreadnaught which, after a short chase, rammed the and cut it in two; only narrowly avoiding a collision with HMS Temeraire that was also trying to ram the U29. All 32 men on the submarine perished including the commander, Otto Weddigen, who had achieved fame, or notoriety, depending on which side you were on, as commander of the U9 when he sank the three ships Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, in quick succession on the morning of 22 September 1914.

Under the heading ‘Extraordinary War Incident’ it was explained that ‘during the fighting with the Germans in East Africa a company of native troops under British officers were taken out at night by motor cars to endeavour to cut the Germans off. Suddenly a rhinoceros charged one of the cars, but missed it by a few inches. Then it turned and charged the next car, knocking it completely over and killing four of the natives. It took fifty men with knives to overcome the unwelcome intruder. Before it was killed it had put another car out of action.’ There are many ways that a soldier might be killed or injured, however, even in Africa, it is unlikely that many would think that an angry rhinoceros would be the cause of their demise.

Another of Private Stewart Knock’s cartoons of life in Bedford published in early 1915: ‘Flittin - Bedford Seaforths changing billets’.