6th Batt. Cameron Highlanders, France July 1918

[Doddie]

Wondering if anybody out there has a relation who was in the 6th Battalion Cameron Highlanders during the First World War. My grandfather served with the 6th Battalion in France between April and July 1918. He was wounded sometime between the end of June and the first week of July. His records say that he left France on 5th July and was initially sent back to England. The first hospital he stayed in was the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley, Southhampton. I have visited the archives at Kew twice to look at the 6th Battalion war diaries in an attempt to possibly find out what happened to my grandfather. Although I obviously did not expect to find him mentioned by name personally I thought there just might be a reference to an incident that might have accounted  for his injuries. The story in the family is that he was injured during a bombardment. What I do know is that the battalion/regiment was not involved in a full blown engagement with the enemy i.e. not a specifically named battle. I just cannot find anything in official records (including my grandfather's  service records) that might explain what happened to my grandfather so I thought that I would try and discover some personal testimonies of fellow soldiers from his battalion. All information welcome.

Regards

Doddie

[Brenda0101]

Hello Doddie, have you visited the following website www.netley-military-cemetery.co.uk?  We are a group of enthusiastic Volunteers researching Netley Military Hospital.  Julie Green's website above is excellent and may well be able to help you.  One of our many projects connected to the Hospital is mapping out the graves in its Military Cemetery.  Some students from nearby schools have been doing research on several of the soldiers who sadly died at the Hospital.

[MaxD]

You are absolutely right to say that he is not named in the diaries for that period but you will have seen that between 17th June and the 30th June 161 men of the battalion were wounded and taken to hospital.  Leaving France on 5 July implies wounding during that time as you say.  They were in the front line trenches for only about half that time but being constantly shelled throughout and on one day gassed. So the family story that "he was injured in a bombardment" rings totally true, no specific incident or battle, just the daily unremitting pressure the men had to endure.

Hope your searches prove fruitful.  This may be of interest if you haven't seen it https://www.flickr.com/photos/uofglibrary/sets/72157645461067355/

maxD