Queen’s Park in the Front Line 1914 - 1918 An account of the contribution made by members and players of Queen’s Park Football Club who enlisted for service in the Great War and saw active service north of the River Somme in 1916. Index 1. Glasgow and Edinburgh Pals Battalions Pages 2 - 5 2. Paying the Price on the Somme Pages 6 - 10 3. High Wood and Beyond Pages 11 - 16 4. Commemoration on the Somme Page 17 - 18 Written by Fred Ellsworth July 1st 2016 1 Glasgow and Edinburgh Pals Battalions One of the most effective ways of encouraging enlistment was to offer recruits the opportunity to join up, train and fight alongside friends and family. The original “Pals Battalions” were based on locality. In this way many small towns in the North of England raised their own battalions of up to 1,000 men e.g. the 11th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment were all men from the town of Accrington. The scheme quickly spread to battalions composed of men sharing the same background or interest. Thus, the 12th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment were known as the Hull Sportsman’s Battalion. 4 Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers were composed of former pupils and students of Public Schools and Universities. Two further Battalions of Royal Fusiliers were composed of sportsmen. Both Glasgow and Edinburgh had their own versions of Pals Battalions. In Edinburgh the 15th Battalion Royal Scots was formed by Robert Cranston, a prominent city businessman and former Lord Provost. The 16th Battalion Royal Scots was formed by Sir George McCrae, a prominent businessman and former Member of Parliament. “McCrae’s Battalion” was largely composed of sportsmen, and footballers in particular. Football Team of the 16th Battalion Royal Scots – composed of 6 players from Hearts, 3 from Falkirk and 3 from Raith Rovers. Sir George McCrae is centre of the front row 2 In Glasgow the 15th, 16th and 17th Battalions of the Highland Light Infantry were men from the Tramways Department, the Boys Brigade and the commercial sector respectively. The 18th Battalion was originally a “bantam” battalion of men under the official regulation height of 5 foot 3 inches. A number of Queen’s Park members and players served with the 16th and 17th Battalions. Those who served with the 16th (Glasgow Boys Brigade) Battalion included James Alexander, a committee member and former Treasurer seen here, MacDonald Cameron, goalkeeper with the Strollers X1 who represented his country in army internationals and Thomas Walker, outside left with the Strollers X1. William Brown, Robert Duncan, Andrew Ferguson, John Roberts and Harry Nairn Robertson were amongst those who served with the 17th (Glasgow Chamber of Commerce) Battalion. Additional to the newly created Pals Battalions, friends continued to enlist together into the same battalions of the regular and territorial armies. As we have seen, many Queen’s Park members and players enlisted in other battalions of the Highland Light Infantry – in particular, the 9th (Glasgow Highland) Battalion. Amongst those serving with the Glasgow Highlanders in 1916 were John Barbour, James Bennett, Walter Coulter, Peter Moodie Walter Frier, Peter Moodie and John Stevenson. The idea of encouraging enlistment through the formation of Pals Battalions, and the development of other battalions based on locality and shared identity, initially seemed to make perfect sense. However, the full scale of the human loss to come had not been anticipated, nor had the impact on men who were soon to witness the deaths of long standing friends and workmates, as well as brothers and cousins. The consequence of encouraging such battalions was that loss of life was not shared equally. Whole towns and communities were disproportionately hit when their battalions had the misfortune to be in the front line when a major offensive was launched. 3 During periods of withdrawal from the front lines in Belgium and France, the Glasgow Highlanders engaged in inter battalion sporting competition. In March 1915 the Glasgow Highlanders competed in the 2nd Division football championship at Bethune in France, losing in the final to the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards. In May of that same year the Glasgow Highlanders went one better, defeating the Royal Engineers 3 - 0. From around the middle of 1915 the newspapers provided little coverage of sporting activities in Belgium and France. Fortunately, from the autumn of 1916, the officer diarist for the 9th Battalion appears to have had sufficient interest in sport to duly record the battalion’s considerable sporting achievement, with no defeats recorded in either cricket, rugby or football in the following two years. Football Record of 9th Battalion Highland Light Infantry 22 November 1916 Defeated 1st Battalion Queen’s 5 - 0 in Brigade Semi – Final 26 November 1916 Defeated 16th Battalion King’s Royal Rifles 2 - 0 in Brigade Final 29 November 1916 Defeated 20th Battalion Royal Fusiliers 3 - 0 in 33rd Division Semi - Final 2 December 1916 Defeated 2nd Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders 3 - 1 in 33rd Division Final 11 August 1917 Defeated 17th Battalion Highland Light Infantry 4 - 0 1 January 1918 Defeated 18th Battalion HLI, 35th Division Champions, 2 - 0 2 January 1918 Defeated 2nd Battalion Worcester Regiment 10 - 1 4 February 1918 Defeated 20th Battalion Royal Fusiliers 5 - 0 in 33rd Division Semi - Final 11 February 1918 Retained the 33rd Division Championship by defeating the 4th Battalion King’s Liverpool Regiment 7 - 0 7 September 1918 Defeated 5th Battalion Scottish Rifles 6 - 0 17 December 1918 Defeated 16th Battalion King’s Royal Rifles Regiment 8 - 0 Glasgow Highlanders at rugby practice in August 1917 at Ghyvelde in France. On 14 August they defeated the 16th Battalion King’s Royal Rifles 16 - 5 and on 5 September they defeated the 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers 10 - 3 4 9th Battalion Highland Light Infantry Football Team March 1915 Back Row (from left) : Lance Corporal A Hunter (linesman), Private Walter Parks Scott (Queen’s Park), Private John Milroy (Hampden), Private Walter Coulter (Queen’s Park), Lance Corporal G Mills, Private MacDonald Cameron (Queen’s Park) Middle Row (from left) : Private A Armstrong, Lance Corporal James Bennett (Queen’s Park), Sergeant D G Houston (Manager), Private Robert Young (Captain) (Queen’s Park), Private James Walker (Queen’s Park) Front Row (from left) : Private C Andrew (Glasgow Academicals), Private J McDonald (Third Lanark) It is not known whether other Queen’s Park players played during 1915 – the most likely to have done so, based on first X1 appearances, being James West. Whilst MacDonald Cameron, Walter Scott, James Walker, James West and Robert Young were unavailable from 1916 as a consequence of gaining commissions with other units, Queen’s Park’s representation in the team would have been maintained with the availability from 1916 of other former first X1 players, including John Barbour, Alex Douglas, Andrew Leslie, David McIntosh, Robert Rhind and John Stevenson. 5 Paying the Price on the Somme 1916 The Battle of the Somme more than any other battle of the war has come to be associated with the volunteer battalions of the “New Army” – and the Pals Battalions in particular. Preceded by 7 days of constant artillery bombardment 100,000 British soldiers went “over the top” at 7.30 am on the morning of 1 July 1916, on a 15 mile (24 km) front stretching from Gommecourt in the North to the River Somme in the South. 6 The 16th and 17th Battalions of Highland Light Infantry, as part of 97th Brigade of the 32nd Division, were entrusted with attacking the Leipzig Redoubt, south of the Thiepval plateau, from their trenches outside Authuille. The official history of the 17th Battalion describes the last minutes before the attack : “In sun-baked trenches everyone longed for the zero hour, while the guns rolled and shells crashed with ever-increasing intensity. Nothing was real. Men stood and waited as if in a dream. They felt as if they were listening to the overture; that soon the curtain would rise. When the guns ceased their roar, in the death-like stillness was heard the warbling of birds in "no man's land" and the grim reality of it all was felt. With the lifting mist of the morning, the curtain rose and the Battalion started moving across "no man's land". Throughout that first day of battle the 16th and 17th Battalions of Highland Light Infantry engaged in repeated failed attacks on the Leipzig Redoubt. Their steel helmets reflected in the strong sunlight, making them clear targets for the German machine guns. The 16th (Boys Brigade) Battalion, half of who were still in their teens, sustained 555 casualties from its original fighting strength of 777. Captain James Alexander was wounded, and the Southern Press reported on 4 August that he was recovering in hospital in England. On 11 August the Southern press reported that Corporal Thomas Walker was also recovering in hospital in England from gunshot wounds to the head. th 16 Battalion Highland Light Infantry Church Parade The 17th (Chamber of Commerce) Battalion scarcely fared better with casualties amounting to 469, most of whom fell in the first 90 minutes of battle. Amongst those wounded were Sergeant William Brown and Corporal John Roberts. For his actions on 1 July 1916, Corporal John Roberts was awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry and promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Fred William Mackie, goalkeeper with the Hampden XI before enlisting in the Royal Engineers was a second Queen’s Park player to be awarded the Military Medal for his actions that month. On the night of 10 July Sapper Mackie remained under shell fire with a wounded comrade before then taking the man to a place of safety.