World War 1

 On August 4th 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany in response to Germany’s invasion of Belgium.  In the first months of the war almost half a million young men volunteered to sign up to fight for king and country.   They said the war would be over by Christmas – how wrong they were. By winter 1915 the opposing sides had both dug long ditches called trenches which stretched from the Belgian coast to Switzerland. Over 5 million British soldiers spent time living in these muddy, miserable ditches. Day to day life was smelly and grim. There were millions of giant rats, overflowing toilets and terrible lice infestations. Dead comrades were left to lie where they fell. Some reports say that the mud in the trenches was so deep that if you strayed off the wooden footways you could disappear up to your chest in foul mud.  

Joined the 4th Cameron Highlanders, a kilted regiment, based in Inverness.  Angus’ regiment was sent to France and fought at Festubert where the British wanted to push back the German front line. They unleashed a 60 hour-long bombardment on the German defences prior to  launching a ground advance.  On May 17th  1915 at about 7:30pm Angus and his comrades set out to crawl through water-filled ditches to capture a German machine gun post.   The wire cutters that he carried with him that day can be found in the museum at Fort George,  Although the British succeeded in pushing the German’s back it was at a terrible cost. Their initial bombardment had been of little effect and  their casualties totalled 16,648. The Germans had 5,000 casualties.

 Angus was one of the “lucky” ones, although badly wounded in the arm and abdomen, he was rescued after 3 days lying in a ditch by a Canadian kilted regiment made up of men who had emigrated from the Highlands to Canada. He had eaten grass to survive. Unfortunately, his stretcher bearers and a comrade who had survived with him were killed by a shell. This was the end of Angus’ active service.   After being treated in hospital in Catterick Angus was returned home but the horrors of war never left him. Years later he slept with a bayonet by his bed and his wife would have to comfort him and settle the children when he woke with night terrors. 

Angus' brother Peter was not to return home.   A member of the Black Watch he was killed in battle in October 1914 and is honoured on the Menin Gate memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium.  Ypres was to see some of the bloodiest fighting.  During 5 engagements hundreds of thousands of casualties were suffered by both sides. 

It is estimated that about 18 million soldiers and civilians died in the war and casualties were over 23 million.  The British Government decided early on not to bring the bodies home and those bodies that could be found and identified are buried in Commonwealth War Graves near where they fell.  Throughout the UK these men are commemorated on war memorials in towns and villages and at the Cenotaph in London..