World War 1

Hello all,

I just wanted to know whether it would be of interest to anyone, or not, but I have transcribed the "official" War Diary for the 5th Seaforth Highlanders for World War 1 (the unit's own diary, that is). I wanted to know whether anyone would be interested in seeing the details posted on a regular basis to this message board - given the 100 year anniversary of WW1. Possibly I could post once a month, showing the details for that month 100 years ago.

I know that many Cathnessians served in units other than the 5th, but for those who served with the 5th there may be people interested to know where their relative had been, and what they were doing, I thought posting the diary entries may provide a start point for research.

I must emphasise that the diary entries do not provide a great deal of information for the general day-to-day activities, but when the unit was involved in major operations the entries can provide quite a bit of detail about the battle, along with some named individuals, but for anyone even remotely curious, the diary can state where the unit was based in France at any given time.

If people are interested I can add to this thread the details I have, but you must bear in mind that I could not decipher every single word, and as a result there is the odd question mark "?" denoting my ineptitude at reading. The 5th Seaforths went over in early 1915, so I have missed entering that early detail, but their first major success or involvement was at Beaumont Hamel in November 1916.

Anyway, people can let me know whether they would like to see this information posted.

Kind Regards,
Steven

Well done for completing the project. I would like to see it.

Thanks to post it.

R

Wow...well done to you Steven....yes I certainly would be interested especially in the names of the Thurso lads enlisting.....thank you ...

Crichton and nevergiveup,

As there are only two of you who have shown an interest, if you pm me your email address I'll email the complete diary to each of you.

It may be just as well anyway, as having thought about it more realistically, there may be rather too much to post to the message board. I wouldn't want to clog it up!

Kind Regards,
Steven

Crichton,

I have emailed you the transcribed War Diary. Let me know if you don't receive it.

Steven

Just saw this. Any chance of an email copy to me please for both Caithness Family History Society and Halkirk Heritage Society? I'll pm my email address.

My maternal grandfather, Isaac Sinclair from Wick (b. Dunbeath), was in the Seaforth Highlanders in WW1. He was a stretcher bearer in No Man's Land and suffered some serious shrapnel wounds. I have no idea which unit he was in, but I'd be interested in seeing your dairies as we have no other WW1 information about him, except for a couple of regimental photos. Many thanks.

I've emailed the transcribed diary to the two email addresses pm'd to me. Hope you get it.

As for Morven's comment, I'm not sure if you were one of the email addresses that I got by private message. If you are, then at least you have now received a copy. If you weren't one of the two recipients, you can pm your email address and I would be glad to pass on what I have.

By the way, I don't suppose you have a little more detail about Isaac Sinclair, do you? Ancestry website is usually good at linking an individual in your tree to military records, or failing that a search can be done using the name and birth details of an individual.

If you don't have access to ancestry, I can try to see if they are any possible matches in the army pension records, or attestation documents. At least that way you can then maybe pinpoint exactly which Battalion Isaac Sinclair was with.

Steven

Morven,

I have tried a quick search without any additional information, and there is one Isaac Sinclair that pops up.

S/13128 Private Isaac Miller, served with 2nd Battalion and 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. Unfortunately there is no copy of attestation papers which would give personal details (place and date of birth), which could confirm or deny whether this was the man you are looking for.

However, from Medal Indexes, I can tell you the man enlisted on 14 February 1916, and was discharged on 11 July 1919 (aged 32 years). Does this sound like it could be a match?

It does state that the reason for discharge was "wounds" and quotes the Kings Regulations number applicable (not that this adds anything).

Kind Regards,
Steven

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sgmcgregor

Morven,

I have tried a quick search without any additional information, and there is one Isaac Sinclair that pops up.

S/13128 Private Isaac Miller, served with 2nd Battalion and 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. Unfortunately there is no copy of attestation papers which would give personal details (place and date of birth), which could confirm or deny whether this was the man you are looking for.

However, from Medal Indexes, I can tell you the man enlisted on 14 February 1916, and was discharged on 11 July 1919 (aged 32 years). Does this sound like it could be a match?

It does state that the reason for discharge was "wounds" and quotes the Kings Regulations number applicable (not that this adds anything).

Kind Regards,
Steven

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Found this on 5th Seaforths : https://archive.org/stream/51stseafo...duoft_djvu.txt


may fill in some gaps ?

Thank you Steven for the Isaac Sinclair information. He was born on 20 September 1886, so definitely a match.

And thank you Rob for the link to the Seaforth Highlanders diaries. I haven't digested them yet, but will do so soon.

Kind regards

Morven

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Morven

Thank you Steven for the Isaac Sinclair information. He was born on 20 September 1886, so definitely a match.

And thank you Rob for the link to the Seaforth Highlanders diaries. I haven't digested them yet, but will do so soon.

Kind regards

Morven

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Morven the 5th seaforths Caithness / Sutherland TA's were billited in Bedford prior to leaving for France in May 1915 this web site is really good and Id highly recommend you take a look at i, as there loads of great photos and stories featuring Caithnessians ie boys from Wick are named. The entire 51st HD was billited in Bedford thousands of kilted soldiers, they compared it to WW2 when the americans came : anyway see http://bedfordhighlanders.blogspot.co.uk/

Apologies if you've seen it before but 100 years after the kilted invasion, folk in Bedford treasure the memories !

A quick post intended for Morven making a correction.

I refer to Isaac Sinclair later as Isaac Miller in my previous post. I want to reassure you that the man was indeed Sinclair, and not Miller. What can I say except, "Ooops!".

I seem to have Miller on the brain at the moment, as this is one of my family surnames and I have been doing a lot of research on the family. I can only assume I was thinking of my Isaac Miller at the time of posting the detail about Isaac Sinclair.

Many apologies Morven.

Regards,
Steven

P.S. I will email the transcribed war diary to you tomorrow, and to the other person who pm'd me their email address.

Thank you Steven for your email and the war diary. You must have put a lot of effort into the transcription and it is very much appreciated. I did realise that your reference to Isaac Miller was probably a mistake, which I should have mentioned earlier. And thank you Rob for the Bedford mention and the link. I didn't know about that. This has been a very informative correspondence for my cousins and myself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Morven

Thank you Steven for your email and the war diary. You must have put a lot of effort into the transcription and it is very much appreciated. I did realise that your reference to Isaac Miller was probably a mistake, which I should have mentioned earlier. And thank you Rob for the Bedford mention and the link. I didn't know about that. This has been a very informative correspondence for my cousins and myself.

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Thanks Morven, the Bedford web site.. I stumbled across as I knew 1/5 Seaforths, the local TA company's were billeted in Bedford prior to going to France so googled and came across the site, great photos and great stories ! Heres another great link on the first battle engagement these lads fought, weeks after leaving Bedford :
http://www.internet-promotions.co.uk...tradition3.htm