The story of the Shetlanders who signed up and would never make the trip home
by
Jon Sandison
Soldiers during Third Ypres, 1917. The desperate conditions were typical of the trenches.
Photo sourced by Jon Sandison.
The story of the Western Front is a continual fixation of the Great War, but the First
World War was a truly global conflict. Britain entered the war ostensibly to preserve
Belgian neutrality but also to curtail German dominance of Europe. During the second
half of the 20th century the war became linked to futility and waste – "Lions led by
Donkeys". But with the centenary of the outbreak of the war, people are reassessing
their views, often through a family-centric, "what did Grandad do in the war?" approach.
Commemoration has taken place, both at home and abroad as we reflect on the "war to
end all wars".
With Shetlanders experiencing every part of the developing land war campaigns, the
human side and the personal stories are finally balancing with the wider more known
tale of what happened. It is clear how important our own local war story is when driving
around our islands, and passing war memorials in every community. The name of a
soldier on a local memorial has either a gravestone or memorial inscription, whether it
be in France, Belgium, Gallipoli, Salonika, Palestine or Mesopotamia. Some made it
home to rest, a bit closer to their loved ones.
Links to theatres of war elsewhere, Shetland's war memorials are poignant reminders of
the local heritage connected to a global conflict. Any memorial or grave with a
Shetlander on it in France and Belgium, continues to be a firm part of our heritage
today, made even more significant with the arrival of the 100th anniversary.
The story of the Shetlander in the army was one linked to home, but also that of
mainland Britain and across its empire. Men with home connections served across a
wide spectrum of regiments. Some signed up locally, and joined the local territorials,
connected to the Gordon Highlanders. Others joined Scottish regiments such as the
Seaforth Highlanders, Royal Scots, Black Watch, Cameron Highlanders and Highland
Light Infantry. After the Gordon Highlanders, most enlisted with the Seaforths. Others,
many living on the mainland already, often joined the nearest regiments such as the
Northumberland or Lancashire Fusiliers, Scots Guards and Royal Garrison Artillery.
Those who had emigrated just before the First World War, returned to serve as part of
the Imperial Forces of the British Empire, such as the New Zealand, Australian and
Canadian Expeditionary Forces. Shetlanders, or those with a Shetland connection, saw
action all across the globe.
Men from all walks of life, both blue and white collar, flocked to the colours in the time of
need. More Shetlanders served at sea than on the land. It is not surprising that with
Shetland’s maritime connections many chose the navy. But the ratio of loss on the
battlefields outnumbered those lost at sea. Many of the Shetland soldiers worked in the
fishing industry, while others worked in shops, offices and trades. Others, were fresh out
of school and further education, while some stayed and worked elsewhere, but had
home connections.
Thomas Manson's Shetland Roll of Honour and Service estimates that somewhere
around 4,300 men from Shetland were in the services during World War One, of which
500 who died were not resident in Shetland. Dr Linda Riddell recently calculated that
around 30 per cent of the Shetlanders lost served in the army. A tally of the Roll of
Honour and Service suggests over 1,070 served in the army. From this total, more than
270 were lost – around a quarter of those that served on land.
From those who served in the navy, both Royal and Merchant, more than 330 perished
with losses amounting to around 10 per cent of those serving at sea. These figures are
fluid with more continually being added via local and national research. For example,
recent research via The Shetland Family History Society, and the University of
Edinburgh Scotland’s War Project, have added further to the numbers. A reminder that
war continues to have impact, and that there is much we are still learning.
Reasons for enlisting were varied. Peer pressure, lack of employment, economic
reasons, a change of life, chance to see another country, escape, patriotism, and
eventually conscription – introduced in early 1916 – all contributed locally, just as they
did elsewhere. Some 300 Shetlanders were members of the prewar Territorial Force
when war broke out, with over 100 enlisting for Imperial Service.
They were in France by 1915. Sadly, 17 were killed in action throughout the war.
Recruitment was initially very slow in Shetland. Those who joined up at home, did so via
the local recruiting office or on the mainland. Those that had emigrated, mainly to
Canada and Australia, did so there, returning back to fight for the homeland.
After Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, six infantry divisions and one
cavalry division of the British Expeditionary Force with about 100,000 men in all, began
embarkation for France between 11 and 23 August. All believed that it would be over by
Christmas.
The battle fought astride the canal at Mons on 23 August was the first major
confrontation which the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had with the German First
Army, They were out-manoeuvred and outnumbered and pulled back more than 100
miles to south of the River Marne. The "Retreat From Mons" was to incorporate various
"rear guard actions". With them was Private Robert Bolt of the 1st Cameron
Highlanders. He was to become the first man with Shetland connections killed at the
Battle of the Aisne in September, 1914.
Due to the limited size of the forces, Secretary of State for War, Lord Horatio Kitchener,
looked to recruit two million further volunteers. Initially 100,000 volunteers were sought
but this became 600,000. Eventually the rate of volunteers slowed so that conscription
had to be introduced. With the "Race to the Sea", each side looked to outflank the other.
Battles such as First Ypres took place. Here, nearly every frontline unit lost 70 per cent
of their fighting strength.
It was during this phase that Private Thomas Hardy, of the Gordon Highlanders was
lost. Prior to his death, he had written letters to his mother which were published in The
Shetland Times. It is well known now how the war moved early on from a war of
movement to the stalemate of trench warfare. Hardy was killed at a stage where trench
warfare was beginning to take shape. His mother, Jessie, was to lose two other sons
and she unveiled the Shetland War Memorial in 1924.
There were to be more Shetland casualties by the by end of 1914. At this stage, both
sides consolidated their positions, with the Germans selecting high ground and building
up strong defensive positions. Both sides looked to achieve a breakthrough. Other key
confrontations were to follow including early in 1915, Neuve Chapelle in March, Second
Ypres in April/May, which saw the first use of poisonous gas, and Festubert in May
1915. Two lads with Shetland parents, Thomas H K Laurence, from Yell, and James
John Irvine, from Nesting, were killed within a day of each other at Second Ypres
serving with the Canadian Brigades.
The land war had already widened beyond the Western Front. During April 1915, the
Allied Forces landed at the Dardanelles with the intention of creating another front and
putting extra pressure on the Central Powers. Here, Oliver Goodlad, born in Burra, was
killed as a result of a mine explosion on 28 May. He was serving with the Australian
Infantry.
The entry of Turkey into the war, prompted Britain to open a new front in the Ottoman
province of Mesopotamia. During 1915, and into 1916 the siege of Kut Amara took
place. An 8,000 strong British-Indian garrison was besieged in this town, 100 miles
south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. James John Nelson of the Seaforth
Highlanders was killed in action trying to relieve this siege on 7 January 1916. Born and
enlisted in Lerwick, he is commemorated on the Basra Memorial.
Further offensives on the Western Front continued later in the year. The Battle of Loos
in September and October 1915, witnessed large Scottish loss. At least three with
Shetland connections were killed here – two of them in the Black Watch.
Back home in Shetland, as elsewhere, local territorials were getting ready to depart.
The realisation was clear nationally that this was going to be a long haul. Having
guarded cable positions since the outbreak in 1914, they left our islands on 13 June
1915 via troopship Cambria with over 200 on board. It was a significant day both in Lerwick's and Shetland’s history. After training at Perth throughout the summer and
autumn, they would be in France by the end of 1915. Many of these men would be lost
at the Somme during 1916, as well as Arras in 1917.
Soldiers marching on the Somme, 1916. © IWM.
By 1916 the Western Front had developed into a war of attrition. With the French held
down and fighting for survival at Verdun, pressure was placed on the British to launch
an offensive in the Somme valley. Launched on 1 July, the futility of this battle is
hauntingly etched upon national sub consciousness. It was the start of the end for the
Germans as the British slowly learned the tactics required to defeat them on the field of
battle; albeit with huge losses.
Among Shetlanders casualties were high across numerous regiments in this battle,
including nine local lads within the Seaforth Highlanders lost between July and October.
The Somme was never intended to be just a July battle. However, the fighting continued
until November.
During the Battle of the Ancre, 13 November 1916, an estimated 17 Shetlanders were
killed with the attack on Beaumont Hamel and Serre; most of them Gordons and
Territorials. Given the loss over such a short space of time, this was in many ways
Shetland's 'Somme'.
In early December, The Shetland Times poignantly reported that, "It is needless to say
that the full extent of the calamity, so far as can now be known, had completely stunned
the community. That so large a sacrifice should have been demanded out of so small a
district must always remain an enigma. That such a big inroad into the life of Lerwick
and its immediate surrounding districts caused widespread sorrow, is putting it very
mild."
One of them was Joseph Anderson, former pupil of Anderson Educational Institute,
aged 24. He was in the Sportsman's Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, and was the son of
Lerwick solicitor, J B Anderson. A lengthy account of Joseph's death was given via a
fellow soldier writing home to his family. It was noted that he was one of the first
Shetland casualties at the Ancre.
In the morning of the13th we attacked in the front wave. Joe was one of the first few
groups to reach the second line. He and his team came into immediate contact with a
German machine gun which had just been brought up from its dugout ... Joe fired and
hit at least two of the Boche team before a shot from one of them struck him in the
head and killed him instantly. It was a gallant piece of work, and Joe took a leading
part in it. He certainly saved the life of his gun, and many lives he must have saved too
by leading the way in the destruction of a gun that would have had a heavy toll had it
been allowed to get to business.
The sympathies of many men in the Battalion who knew and admired Joe, and heard
of and applauded his deed, go out to you in your bereavement. Most of all my own
sympathies, for the loss is a very great one to me and that perhaps enables me to
realise your loss and feel with you the more.
After the Somme offensive stalled in late 1916 there were further offensives in the
spring of 1917 with an attempt to make a breakthrough further north. At Vimy Ridge and
Arras during April and May, over 20 Shetlanders fell; both British offensives to support
French attacks on the Chemin Des Dames. Again, Shetlanders wrote home about their
experiences. One, Private James Stout of the Seaforth Highlanders, writing to his
parents in The Shetland Times on May 5th said:
We journeyed on from there past what had been our front line trenches across. 'No
Man’s Land' and enemy lines of trenches. What an upheaval had been made by our
artillery! Almost every yard of ground had been torn up by our shellfire. I had got about
300 yards when something struck me on top of the head and I fell flat. I was stunned
for about 10 minutes, and when I put my hand up expecting to feel a gash in my head,
lo and behold, there was nothing but a small lump about the size of a shilling.
I ventured to take off my helmet because the bullets seemed to be flying at a higher
range and found that a bullet had penetrated my helmet, followed the curve of the
crown inside, and found a way out over my back or shoulder. It gave me a bit of a
shock at first to think of the narrow shave I’d had.
Troops of the Seaforths Regiment clearing trenches during Arras, April 1917.
The Shetland News, Thursday May 10th 1917, recorded that Mr Peter Garrick, Ollabery,
received word from the Canadian record office that his son, Private Arthur T Garrick, of
the Canadian Expeditionary Force had been wounded and was in hospital. In a letter to
his father, Private Garrick described the fighting at the redoubtable Vimy Ridge, the
storming of which by the Canadians had covered the troops of the Dominion with
imperishable glory and struck a reeling blow at the German army.
I posted a card the other day by which you would know that I came safely through the
big scrap, albeit I got slightly hit. I got hit on the night of the 12th, on the forearm and
the thigh, with shrapnel, but didn’t go out.
At Arras, slightly south, there was further cost to Shetland mainly spread across the
Seaforth and Gordon Highlanders. One of the Gordons who was wounded, John Sim, is
buried in Lerwick Cemetery having died from his wounds in early 1919.
Little progress was made, and in the summer, British Commander-in-Chief General
Douglas Haig launched an offensive to break out of the Ypres Salient to the north in
Flanders. The third battle of Ypres began with the blowing of 19 mines under the
Germans on the Messines Ridge in June 1917. There then followed a most bloody
battle which today is known as Passchendaele, fought in most unseasonal and wet
weather from July to November 1917; the battlefield turned into a quagmire. It was to
last from 31 July to 6 November, and had eight phases.
During the first day of Ypres Lieutenant John Henry Clifford Grierson, of Helendale,
Lerwick was killed. Details of his death were even included in the Official History of the
Gordon Highlanders.
The morning was apparently overcast, so that it was still dark. In a landscape that was
so scarred, landmarks as existed were unrecognizable. Apart from the usual
machine-gun fire, there was hand-to-hand fighting short of the first objective, one
officer, Lieutenant J H C Grierson, afterwards himself killed, was recorded as seen to
kill a German with a bayonet. The fighting was fierce, but the first objective was
secured by 4:45 without serious loss.
The British Expeditionary Force suffered more than 300,000 estimated casualties during
this battle of which over 30 had a Shetland connection. 20 November 1917 also
witnessed the Battle of Cambrai, further south. It was an attempt to break the German
line with the first mass use of tanks, in cooperation with an artillery fire plan and aerial
assistance. It was a first all-arms offensive showing the learning curve of the BEF.
Three Shetlanders were killed that day.
In the spring of 1918, the Germans launched their first offensive since 1915, with the
overall aim of breaking the deadlock on the Western Front before the United States
Army was ready. The aim was to punch through the Allied defensive line and split the
British forces from the French. Different phases of the German offensive continued until
July and early August. One of many, Private William G J Tulloch of the Black Watch,
was killed on 19 July. On the day he was killed it was noted that the Black Watch had
attempted to take a position. There was severe infantry and machine gun fire from a
hedge, and the Black Watch pulled back with serious losses to their original trenches
William is buried in Meteren Military Cemetery.
The Allies launched various offensives against the weakening German defensive line
just north of the Somme. On 8 August 1918, at the battle of Amiens the tide turned for
the final time as massed British armour broke the German line and from this point until
November, the war took on a mobile phase and the trenches were left behind. Guardsman Private James Laurence William son Erasmuson, Guards Machine Gun Regiment,
was killed in early September during the second Battle of Arras as his Battalion met with
strong resistance attempting to capture the line. His parents were formerly of Chromate
Lane, Lerwick, where he had been born and enlisted.
The last major line of German resistance, the heavily defended Hindenburg Line, was
breached in late September. Following this, there was the final Allied push back to
Mons, where it had all began. The Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918.
During the war approximately six million British men were mobilised for the army, and of
those just over 700,000 were killed – around 11.5 per cent. Shetland’s cost within the
army was more than double this figure. For those that came home, the familiar story
seems to be that they suffered in silence.
The effects of their involvement in war were permanent; those that came home,
mentally scarred in some cases, had experiences that would never leave them. Most
kept their memories quiet, to themselves, unwilling to share it with anyone, perhaps
sometimes only with those who had also gone through it.
What would we ask them if they were still here? Ironically we might ask, in the words of
the famous cynical propaganda poster: "Daddy, what did you do in the Great War?"