It had been four long years since the British Army had been pushed out of France and back across the Channel, forced to evacuate from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk. The time had finally come for the Western Allies to bite back and begin the liberation of North West Europe from Nazi occupation.
Although no Cameronian battalions took part in the initial assaults on the beaches of Normandy, two well known Cameronians had been involved in the planning and preparation. General Sir Thomas Riddell-Webster, as Quarter-Master General, and Lieutenant-General J. F. Evetts, as Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff, both made a contribution to the planning, supply and general administration of the operation which is impossible to overestimate.
Shortly after the capture of the beaches, the Headquarter Staff of VIII Corps arrived in France, led by another famous Cameronian – Lieutenant-General Richard O’Connor. It was as part of VIII Corps that the first of the four Cameronian battalions to fight as part of the British Liberation Army would arrive in France.
The 9th Cameronians was a War Service battalion. A 9th Battalion had been raised in 1914 and fought with distinction on the Western Front. Just 20 years later, the 9th Battalion of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was raised once again to take part in a World War against Germany and her allies.
The years leading up to D-Day were frustrating for the men of the 9th Cameronians. Destined to remain in the UK undergoing intense training, they were denied the opportunity to take the fight to the enemy like their brothers-in-arms in the 1st Cameronians in Burma, or in the 2nd Cameronians (North Africa, Sicily and Italy). The reward for their patience was that they would be the first Cameronian battalion in action in the invasion of Fortress Europe.
For much of 1943 and 1944 the 9th Battalion would undergo extensive training in co-operation with armoured units, with whom they would fight alongside with great success in Normandy and beyond.
As part of 15th (Scottish) Division, serving in O’Connor’s VIII Corps, the 9th Cameronians were to form part of the force that would break out of the Normandy beachhead and clear a way towards Paris.
On 17 June 1944, the 9th arrived at the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches. Bad weather would delay their disembarkation and it wasn’t until 23 June that the full Battalion would assemble together. In only three days time they would be thrown into action for the first time…
In this blog post, we take a look at one of the more unusual medal groups within the regimental collection, and try to catch a glimpse of the man behind the medals.
Miniature medals awarded to Edward Albert Westall Left to right – Air Force Cross (AFC), Military Medal (MM), 1914 Star with date clasp, British War Medal, Victory Medal
The medals were awarded to Edward Albert Westall, and represent decorated service in both the Army and the Royal Air Force. Westall was born on 17 July 1887 at St Pancras, Middlesex. He enlisted in The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in late 1905. Westall was still serving with The Cameronians when the First World War broke out, by which time he held the rank of Lance Sergeant. He arrived in France with the 1st Battalion on 15 August 1914, thus qualifying for the 1914 Star. On 5 January 1917, Sergeant Westall was awarded the Military Medal, an award issued to British soldiers for gallantry. An experienced soldier who had been decorated for bravery, Westall was granted a commission with the rank of Second Lieutenant on 17 September 1917. He was attached to the Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force) and would remain with them for the rest of the War. The photograph below shows Westall as a Second Lieutenant; he wears the medal ribbon of the Military Medal on his chest. He retains the Glengarry and badge of his parent regiment, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). The thin stripe on his lower left sleeve is a Wound Stripe, indicating he had been wounded in action.
Second Lieutenant E. A. Westall MM, probably taken in late 1917, shortly after his commission
A photograph album belonging to Lieutenant Westall provides a fascinating glimpse of his service with the RFC/RAF. A common scene in the album is that of crashed aircraft, reminding us of just how dangerous those early years of flight were.
The memorial on Salisbury Plain commemorating Captain Loraine and Staff-Sergeant Wilson, who died in a crash on 5 July 1912, the first fatalities of the Royal Flying Corps
Westall continued to serve in the RAF after the Armistice of November 1918. In April 1919, he was part of the seven man crew of a Handley Page 0/400 aircraft scheduled for a circular flight around Great Britain, setting off from Weyhill aerodrome near Andover.
In the early hours of 22 April 1919 the plane, in which Westall was acting as Observer, clipped an aerodrome building during take-off and crashed. The 400 gallons of petrol in the fuel tanks ignited and the aircraft burst into flames. Tragically, five of the crew were trapped and killed. Westall and Flight Sergeant Smith were the only crew members who were able to escape the burning wreck; Westall receiving extensive burns to his neck and hands. Evidence given at the subsequent inquest described the scene:
I heard two slight crashes at short intervals, followed by a very loud crash. From the time of the first crash to the final one the engines were still running, and had not changed in note. I proceeded to the scene, and found the machine piled and blazing furiously against the north wall of No. 9 hut.
The fire bell was rung, and the station fire-fighters were there almost at once. The navigator, Lieutenant Westall, was discovered on the grass 20 or 30 yards away from the hut with his clothing blazing. Sergeant Smith was also discovered about the same spot, but his clothing was only smouldering. There was no hope of getting anything at all from the machine.
A photograph reproduced in the Daily Sketch shortly after the accident, showing the burnt-out wreckage of the aircraft
Sergeant Smith, one of the wireless operators, was the only other survivor of the crash. After the initial impact, Sergeant Smith was thrown on top of Lieutenant Westall. Smith was still hooked up to the wireless equipment and Westall helped clear him of the wires to allow both men to escape the burning wreckage.
Sergeant H Smith
Westall’s injuries were extensive and he spent several weeks in hospital in a critical condition. Although he survived his injuries, he would bear the scars of the accident for the rest of his life. While recuperating from his injuries, Westall faced further tragedy in the loss of his wife, Florence, who died in August 1919.
Lieutenant Westall (in bed) recuperating from his wounds in hospital
In March 1920 Westall was placed on the half-pay list on the grounds of ill-health, and ultimately retired from military service in June of that year. The London Gazette of 10 October 1919 announced the award of the Air Force Cross to Observer Officer Edward Albert Westall. No citation accompanied the award, although it is stated that it was issued for gallantry in service during the First World War. It is also possible that the award was made in recognition of Westall’s actions in assisting Sergeant Smith escaping the burning aircraft.
Westall’s Air Force Cross is the only one of its kind in the regimental collection. Very few men would have received both the Air Force Cross and Military Medal; it is almost certain that Edward Westall was the only Cameronian to receive such awards.
The Air Force Cross (AFC) awarded to Lieutenant Westall, still in the case in which it was presented
Edward Albert Westall remarried in 1920. He died on 29 June 1972 at Kennington, London, aged 84.
We are very grateful to the Westall family for gifting the medals, photographs and other items belonging to Lieutenant Edward Albert Westall to the regimental museum collection.
A new exhibition has recently opened at Low Parks Museum to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, signed on 11th November 1918.
The exhibition uses unique photographs from the museum collection to highlight the contribution and sacrifices of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in the First World War.
A short film presentation on The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in the First World War compliments the exhibition. This 10 minute feature was specially produced to commemorate The Cameronians involvement in the War, and utilises historical material from the museum collection along with modern images and film footage of sites, cemeteries and memorials on the Western Front.
A fantastic collection of artwork and sculpture by local artist, Allison Smith, completes the exhibition. Allison, whose grandfather served with The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) during the First World War, collaborated with primary and secondary schools across South Lanarkshire to produce this moving and evocative display at Low Parks Museum.
The exhibition and artwork installations are open now until Sunday 18th November, so please don’t miss out on the chance to come and visit. Entry to both the museum and exhibition is free of charge.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the 7th and 8th Scottish Rifles’ attack on Gully Ravine on the Gallipoli peninsula. Based on cold statistics this was the worst single day The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) suffered in the entirety of the First World War. While it would be many weeks for the scale of the losses to become known at home, we now know that between the two battalions over 470 men lost their lives in the attack. Not even in the opening phase of the Battle of Loos, in which many more battalions of the Regiment were engaged, would the casualties be matched. I don’t intend to go into the action at Gully Ravine in any great detail in this post; you can learn more about the 7th and 8th Battalions’ experience in that battle by reading my previous post marking the 100th anniversary. But this anniversary does provide an opportunity to remember the part played by the Territorial Force battalions of the Regiment as a whole, and the terrible losses felt by the communities these units represented.
The Territorial Force was created on 1 April 1908, the successor to the Volunteer Force of the mid-19th century. The men of the Territorial Force were ‘part time’ soldiers in that they remained in their civil employment but attended regular training weekends and drill nights where they were given a semblance of the training given to those soldiers of the Regular Army. Four battalions of the Territorial Force came under the parentage of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles); the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Scottish Rifles. The 5th, 7th and 8th Battalions covered Glasgow, while the 6th Battalion belonged to Lanarkshire, and its headquarters were in Muirhall, Hamilton (now the site of Cameronian House – home of the Procurator Fiscal’s office and job centre). These battalions truly were microcosms of the areas they represented; the majority of men would live and work within the Battalion’s recruiting area, and many of the men would work together in the same businesses and industries. Many of the officers were drawn from the management and directorship levels of the companies and factories in which the men worked, while younger officers were often university students or graduates who had been attached to an Officer Training Corps. It was not uncommon for a private soldier or non commissioned officer of the Territorial Force to have their manager from their civilian occupation as a battalion officer.
One such example of this is Robert Downie of Hamilton; a draughtsman who was also a soldier of the 6th Scottish Rifles. In civilian life he worked in the offices of local architect Gavin Paterson, who also happened to be Lieutenant Colonel, commanding the 6th Scottish Rifles. Robert Downie did not survive the First World War. He went to France with the 6th Battalion in March 1915 as a sergeant and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry at Festubert, in June of that year. Downie was later commissioned and was also awarded the Military Cross for his actions when his battalion led the attack to push the German forces out of the French village of Clary, in late October 1918. Captain Robert Downie was killed on 6 November 1918, just five days before the Armistice.
Sergeant Robert Downie, 6th Scottish Rifles
The Battle of Festubert, in which Robert Downie earned his DCM, was the first major engagement in which the 6th Scottish Rifles took part. The Battalion suffered heavy losses, which were closely felt by the towns and villages of Lanarkshire from which the men of the battalion called home. By their nature, Territorial Force battalions were far likelier to contain men from the same families as might be found in the Regular battalions of the Army. Brothers, brothers-in-law, cousins, and even fathers and sons were found serving together in the Territorial Force battalions. Searching through casualty notices in the Motherwell Times yesterday, I came across this particularly heart breaking letter:
Letter from Private James Dickson – to his parents in Motherwell
“I regret very much to tell you that Jamie Baird died yesterday afternoon at 2.30. I got word yesterday morning that he was lying in a hospital barge in a canal about an hour’s walk from where we are billeted, so I got a pass immediately after parade, and set out to see him. I just got to the barge when a sergeant of the R.A.M.C. came down the gangway, so I asked if I could see Sergt. Baird, as he was a brother-in-law of mine, He had a slip of paper in his hand, and he showed me it with Jamie’s name on it, and said that if I had been ten minutes sooner I would have seen him pass away. He told me he died very peacefully, and I went on and saw him lying where he died. He was quite warm, and looked very nice. I asked what the nature of his wounds were. He told me he had one in the abdomen and one on the hand. I asked when he would be buried, so they sent me to another place further on and they told me there that he would be buried at six o’clock, so I hurried off to our billet and got a party of our company, and we laid him to rest in a nice little graveyard in a village which I can’t give you the name of just now, as we are not allowed to do so. Just break the news as gently as possible to poor Annie (Mrs Baird). I am heart sorry for her, and all my little nieces and nephews. They will miss their father, but he fell fighting and was brave to the last, although that is very little consolation to those who are left behind. I asked the ambulance sergeant major if he would put up a little cross and he promised to do so, and they told me that all the articles that were his would be sent to the base and then on to his wife.”
James Baird was married to Annie Dickson, Private James Dickson’s sister. James and Annie had seven children – the ‘little nieces and nephews’ mentioned in Private Dickson’s letter.
Sergeant James Baird, 6th Scottish Rifles
Two brothers from Motherwell, Robert and Isaac Devon, were also serving in the 6th Scottish Rifles during the Battle of Festubert. Isaac, who was soldier-servant to Captain Lusk, was wounded but survived, while Robert was wounded and died the following day.
Looking back to Gully Ravine, many families from Glasgow suffered multiple blows when the full extent of the losses among the 7th and 8th Battalions became known. A chilling newspaper article in the Daily Record of 27 July 1915 lists a number of casualties from the 8th Scottish Rifles. Printed at the head of the list is an appeal from one mother looking for information on her sons:
“Mrs. Annie Murdoch, 117 Alexandra Parade, has received intimation from Territorial Force Headquarters at Hamilton that her three sons – Gavin (21), Ronald (19), and William (17) – all in the 1/8th Cameronians, have been missing since 28th June. All three were in H Company.
Mrs. Murdoch has other two sons serving King and country – Norman (25) who is an electrical engineer in the Transport Department now in Flanders, and Hugh (15) in the Royal Navy, now on his way to the Dardanelles. Mrs. Murdoch will be glad to hear any tiding of her three missing sons.”
I could find no further mention of the Murdoch brothers in subsequent editions, however the Commonwealth War Graves Commission online register does record the names of a Gavin Murdoch, Ronald Murdoch, and William Murdoch, all having died on 28 June 1915 serving with the 8th Scottish Rifles. All three men are commemorated on the Helles Memorial, suggesting their remains were never identified. There are no obvious commemorative records for Hugh or Norman Murdoch, so one can hope that they at least returned safely to their mother in Glasgow at the Wars end.
This photograph shows the officers of the 8th Scottish Rifles, taken in late 1914.
Rear row, left to right: Lt E. Maclay*, 2Lt R. Humble, Lt J. T. Findlay*, Lt W. N. Sloan, Lt & QM H. Bowen*, 2Lt T. Stout*, 2Lt A. R. Tillie*, 2Lt W. S. Maclay*, Lt G. H. Crichton, Middle Row: 2Lt D. S. Carson, Capt C. J. C. Mowat*, 2Lt T. L. Tillie, Lt H. McCowan*, Captain W. C. Church*, Capt A. B. Sloan (RAMC), Capt H. A. MacLehose, Lt R. C. B. Macindoe*, Lt G. A. C. Moore*, Lt A. D. Templeton*, 2Lt J. W. Scott*, Capt E. T. Young*, Front row: Capt W. T. Law, Capt J. W. H. Pattison, Major R. N. Coulson, Major J. M. Findlay, Lt-Col H. M. Hannan*, Capt C. G. Bramwell*, Capt J. M. Boyd, Capt C. A. D. Macindoe* (* denotes died or killed in the War)
A few months after this photograph was taken, the Battalion would depart for Gallipoli. Of the 29 men shown in this photograph, 17 would never return home. Eleven of those were killed or died in the action at Gully Ravine on 28 June 1915. There are two pairs of brothers in this photograph; the Tillies and the Maclays, all young Second-Lieutenants. Two of the officers shown were also cousins; Lieutenant R. C. B. Macindoe and Captain C. A. D. Macindoe.
Talbot Lee Tillie was badly wounded on 28 June – his life was saved by one of his Sergeants, Stephen Miller, who risked his own life to drag the wounded officer back to the relative safety of the British lines. Arnold Reed Tillie did not survive the War. He had transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and was killed on 11 May 1916. A third Tillie brother, John Archibald, died on 19 July 1918, serving with the Black Watch.
William Strang Maclay died on 25 June 1915, in the lead up to the attack on Gully Ravine. His brother, Ebenezer, survived Gully Ravine, and a subsequent attack launched by the survivors of the 7th and 8th Scottish Rifles on 12 July 1915. Ebenezer was invalided home to the UK in August 1915, and subsequently transferred to the Scots Guards, with whom he was serving when he was killed on 11 April 1918.
Cecil and Ronald Macindoe, cousins, were both killed on 28 June at Gully Ravine.
Two of the officers pictured had also represented Scotland in Rugby; Captain W. C. Church, and Captain E. T. Young. Captain Church’s name is soon to be added to a new panel in the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel, commemorating 19 men previously missing from the University’s roll of honour.
I can think of few other photographs that demonstrate the human cost of the War as clearly as this. The details listed above are, of course, just a few individual stories from the thousands that make up the Regiment’s losses in the First World War, but for me, they exemplify the particularly high price paid by all Territorial Force battalions of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
These were the immortal words spoken by Lieutenant Colonel L. P. G. Dow to the Commander-in-Chief in Scotland on 14 May 1968, signalling the time had come for the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) to disband.
Watercolour of the 1st Battalion’s Disbandment Service, by Tom Carr, 1968
14 May 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Disbandment of the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), as a result of reductions to the UK Defence budget. Despite being raised in 1689 (as the Earl of Angus’ Regiment), The Cameronians were the junior regiment of the Lowland Brigade and it was to them that the bitter choice to amalgamate or disband was given. As it would not have been possible to preserve its unique history and traditions on amalgamation with any other regiment the painful decision to disband was taken.
So it was that on May 14 1968, at Douglas, the 1st Battalion The Cameronians ‘marched from the Army List and into history’. The majority of officers and men remained in the Army, transferring to other regiments and Corps. The name of the Regiment lived on through companies of the Lowland Volunteers and the Army Cadet Force until 1996 when they were rebadged and affiliated to other regiments. Further reduction of the army in 2006 brought the end of the names of all the Scottish infantry regiments, which were merged into the newly created Royal Regiment of Scotland.
While The Cameronians are no longer a part of the British Army, they are remembered with pride across the world; in foreign lands where they fought to liberate the oppressed and help preserve peace, and in Lanarkshire, their home. Low Parks Museum is the proud custodian of The Cameronians regimental collections, through which the Regiment’s name lives on in perpetuity.
To commemorate this momentous occasion in the Regiment’s history, we have created a small display within Low Parks Museum showing some key objects from the regimental collection that relates to the disbandment of the 1st Battalion. One of the objects in this display is the insignia of a Commander of the Swedish Order of the Sword, which had been presented to Lieutenant Colonel Dow on the morning of the disbandment service. The honour was bestowed on behalf of His Majesty King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Colonel in Chief of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
Neck badge of a Commander of the Swedish Order of the Sword, presented to Lt-Col L. P. G. Dow
It was possibly with mixed emotions that Dow received such an honour, given that his first opportunity to wear it was at the disbandment of his Battalion. As Commanding Officer, Dow had the painful task of formally disbanding the 1st Battalion – bringing almost 300 years of service to an end. The date chosen for the disbandment service was symbolic; the anniversary of the founding of the Earl of Angus’ Regiment 279 years earlier. Douglas was where that regiment had been raised and it was only fitting that that is where the disbandment of the 1st Battalion should take place.
The first Commanding Officer of the Earl of Angus’ Regiment was William Cleland, the young, veteran commander of Covenanting forces at Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge. Cleland had the honour of commanding his regiment in it’s first victory, at Dunkeld on 21 August 1689. The victory was tainted by tragedy as Cleland was among those killed in the action. His sword would go on to become one of the Regiment’s most treasured relics, and was placed on the Communion Table on the day of the disbandment, a physical reminder of the first Commanding Officer of the Regiment.
The sword of Colonel William Cleland
Cleland was a man of words, and indeed left behind a legacy of poetry in addition to his accomplishments as a soldier. After his death, a poem dedicated to him by an unknown author was included in a collection of Cleland’s works.
It is titled ‘An Acrostik Upon His Name’ and reads:
Well, all must stoop to death, none dare gainsay.
If it command, of force we must obey:
Life, Honour, Riches, Glory of our State
Lyes at the disposing Will of Fate:
If’t were not so, why then by sad loud thunder
And sulph’rous crashes, which rends the skies asunder
Must a brave Cleland by a sad destiny
Culled out a Victime for his country die.
Lo, here’s a divine hand, we find in all,
Eternal Wisdom has decreed his fall.
Let all lament it, while loud fame reports,
And sounds his praise in Country, Cities, Courts.
No old forgetful Age shall end his story,
Death cuts his days but could not stain his Glory.
Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Dow, last Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), wrote his response in 1968, in dedication to William Cleland:
Another Acrostik Upon His Name
Would you approve of how the tree has grown?
I like to think so. You bequeathed your own
Love of a harassed land and honest cause,
Love which without advertisement or pause
Inspired a hundred Clelands less renowned
And warms platoons of Thompsons in the ground,
Men who have walked this road and shared this view.
Campbell and Lindsay forged the sword with you.
Lit by your pride they handed on the text,
Each generation shaping up the next.
Lindsay and Campbell finish it today.
Axed lies the tree. Now put the sword away,
No old forgetful age will end our story,
Death cuts our days but could not stain our Glory.
The first and last Commanding Officers, William Cleland and Leslie Dow, share one other, remarkable connection. Leslie Phillips Graham Dow was baptised on 16 February 1926 in the Cathedral Church of St. Columba, Dunkeld, the final resting place of Lieutenant Colonel William Cleland.
In 2007 a tree was planted at the National Memorial Arboretum, dedicated to The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). It is fitting that the accompanying plaque bears the last two lines of Colonel Dow’s poem, quoted above.
The plaque accompanying the Regimental Tree, at the National Memorial Arboretum.
