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Messages - Raghnallborders

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World War One / Re: 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders 1914-1916
« on: Saturday 18 March 17 10:40 GMT (UK)  »
Quote from: Baird on Saturday 18 March 17 10:23 GMT (UK)
Yrs Ranald a small world indeed.
 My wife had a relative killed at Reoux Chemical Works serving with 5th Gordons in May 1917.

Baird

Good grief!  Goes to show that 6 degrees of separation is sometimes a long chain!  Just read my earlier post.  "waxwork colleague"?  That should be "ex-work"! :o

2
Selkirkshire / Re: Roll of Honour Book for Selkirk.
« on: Saturday 18 March 17 09:50 GMT (UK)  »
Quote from: alan14578 on Monday 13 March 17 18:56 GMT (UK)
There is no Military headstone in Selkirk Cemeteries to James Davidson.I am surprised. He was 30 yrs when he died in France He was born 16-3-1889 in selkirk to selkirk parents John Davidson and Elizabeth Goodfellow and they were married in sellkirk 23-1-1885 and had 5 children. In the 1911 census they are living at 36 Cannon Street and he is a PIECER in the woollen mill.Do you have the Commonwealth War Graves Commission details of his grave in France and the free certificate.? Hope this helps.
Thanks.  I have, yes.  I don't think he's the man I am after.  It's unlikely a piecer would have an inclination to work in what was "delightfully" called at the time , a pauper lunatic asylum. 

I'll provisionally put a line through this one.  Thank you again.

Ranald

3
World War One / Re: 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders 1914-1916
« on: Saturday 18 March 17 09:30 GMT (UK)  »
Quote from: jim1 on Saturday 04 March 17 15:59 GMT (UK)
You may be interested in this.
Cujo=Cusp.

Too right!  Thank you again.  You guys are amazing.  Hats off to you.

4
World War One / Re: 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders 1914-1916
« on: Saturday 18 March 17 09:26 GMT (UK)  »
Thanks Baird.  As I said to Jim, I have not been keeping an eye on my emails so missed the notification of this.  Yes, I got the PM with the diary extract.  You are a star.

I was out on site with one of my soon to be waxwork colleagues.  He was telling me, out of nowhere, he is going to go to Arras because his GG grandfather died there.  I said nothing and then he said that from his research, he established that he was killed in an attack on a chemical works.  I said "it wasn't Roeux, was it?".  I think you know what the answer was!

He wasn't in the Seaforths but was in the Cameronians.  Nevertheless, such a small world.

R.

5
World War One / Re: 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders 1914-1916
« on: Saturday 18 March 17 09:20 GMT (UK)  »
Jim,

sorry for not replying, I haven't been keeping too good an eye on my emails.  Many thanks for your help.  I suppose it is as concluded as anything can be.  I hope to be able to find out some other bits and bobs but, who knows if there is anything else out there?  Again, thank you.

Ranald

6
Selkirkshire / Re: Roll of Honour Book for Selkirk.
« on: Thursday 02 March 17 23:02 GMT (UK)  »
Hi Dawn,

I know it's a few years since you posted this but, worth a try.

Have you any details on James Davidson, 14689 of McRae's Battalion (16th Royal Scots)?  I know he did not survive and his parents were from Cannon Street in Selkirk.  I wondered if, like the Morayshire ROH, details of his employment are given.  If so, I wonder if he was a medical orderly, nurse or somesuch.

Hope you can help.  Ranald

7
World War One / Re: 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders 1914-1916
« on: Thursday 02 March 17 21:51 GMT (UK)  »
Thanks Jim.  Really interesting and, since I am a planner (cue chorus of yawns), I love looking at maps.

As I said, the Morayshire Roll of Honour (http://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/1002/3362/100233623.23.pdf) has James Mclennan buried between Montauban and Maricourt.  This puzzles me.  I know it is the right Mclennan (not MacLennan as CWGC has his brother William) since all the details in the ROH are directly related to those of my wife's gran.  Could it be the ROH was wrong with the location?  There is a difference with William's service number (2313) and that held by the CWGC (6188) but then, they have misspelled his surname.

Ranald

8
World War One / Re: 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders 1914-1916
« on: Thursday 02 March 17 21:38 GMT (UK)  »
Many thanks.  I had read that they were near Arras but what puzzles me is why the Morayshire Roll of Honour would say he was burried close to Montauban.  Could he have been on an attachment?  Perhaps that's an unanswerable question given the passage of time and the fact that so many service records were lost in the blitz.

I'm looking forward to read the diary entry though.

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World War One / Re: 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders 1914-1916
« on: Thursday 02 March 17 10:02 GMT (UK)  »
Hello,

I'm doing a bit of research into my wife's relatives after watching Testament of Youth.  Three brothers from Forres, all served in the Seaforths.  It seems one, John, may have survived.  He served in the 1/6, service number 273249.

William (6188) was in the 5th and is buried in Mailly Wood Cemetery.  We are going to divert our route home on our way back from Italy (via Austria and Germany) at the end of May so we can visit his grave.  My wife had tears in her eyes when I told her I had found the grave of her dad's uncle.

The real purpose of my message is the final brother, James.  He served in the 2nd, service number 21370.  From what I can establish he died on the 28th of March 1918 and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial.  The Morrayshire Roll of Honour states he was buried between the villages of Maricourt and Montauban.  I cannot see any CWGC grave sites between those two villages although there is one immediately north of Montauban.  That is, Bernafay Wood.  If he is buried there, I fear that, since he is recorded at Arras, he is in a grave marked as "A soldier of the Great War" and that he was reburied there from his original grave between the two villages.  Some of the graves there are reburials because some original graves were destroyed by shellfire, perhaps graves between the villages?  The area was in allied hands until the end of March 1918 and since James died on the 28th of March 1918, there is a good chance he died here or hereabouts.

Anyway, I was wondering if you could give me any information that is in the war diary for the 28th of March 1918.  There was an entry in that of the 5th for the day William died, not that he was mentioned but it gave an idea of the circumstances of the day.  It may be that I could get some details from the diary of the 2nd.

Hope you can help.

Thanks, Ranald.

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