The 4th Battalion Black Watch (Dundee's Own)

Introduction

Here the aim was to demonstrate the use of a range of records to explore the involvement of Dundee and its citizens in the First World War. A definition of local records had to acknowledge the availability of records through the Internet.
The search had to take account of the particular importance of the 4th (City of Dundee) Battalion, The Black Watch. As a City Battalion it had many of the features of the later Pals' Battalions in drawing its strength from a close-knit locality and, when faced with serious losses, likely to bring great sorrow to the community. The Battalion's origins lay in 1st and 2nd Dundee Volunteer Battalions of the Napoleonic period which had become 1st Forfarshire (Dundee) Rifles in 1859. With the coming of the Territorial system in 1881 it became the 1st (City of Dundee) Volunteer Battalion, The Black Watch. The fate of the Battalion at the battle of Loos is commemorated annually by the illumination of the War Memorial on top of The Law.

Dundee Directory 1916

Lists officers several of whom were already dead and also lists other Dundee Territorial units. 

FOURTH (CITY OF DUNDEE) BATTALION, THE BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLANDERS)

The History of the Black Watch in the Great War 1914-1918. Vol 2 Territorial Force 1926. Editor Maj-Gen A G Wauchope CB

Comments: -
"The Battalion represented a Scottish city at war... had in it the spirit and local patriotism which is the basis of so much that is best in Scottish character and in Scottish history." ... "Col Walker our finest type of civic soldier."
On 25 September 20 officers and 423 bayonets gave a ration strength of 540 (c.f. initial 900) of whom 19 officers and 230 men were killed or wounded
This is the only Local Record that notes the Battalion's connection with the Indian Corps and which had to be explored through the Internet: -

The Indian Dimension to an Imperial War

The Indian Army proved to be the only available source of trained soldiers to support the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in 1914. An Indian Corps, consisting of 3rd (Lahore) Division and 7th(Meerut) Division, was formed quickly and dispatched by sea to Marseilles. The sepoys were fed into the line and suffered over 6000 early casualties as they became involved piecemeal in fighting around Ypres. Battalions, which had averaged 764 men, dropped to as few as 385.
All suffered from severe weather, inappropriate clothing, mishandling and lack of understanding and were rested till early 1915. The 2nd Battalion The Black Watch came from India with 21st Bareilly Brigade, part of the Meerut Division, and the 4th Battalion joined the same Brigade on arriving in France. Both battalions served with Bareilly Brigade throughout the campaign till Loos. In the final advance on 25 September the 4th The Black Watch and 2/8th Gurkha Rifles fought together before they had to withdraw.
The Indian Corps provided half the attacking force at Neuve Chapelle, where Gobar Sing Negi, 39th Garhwal Rifles, was awarded the VC. The troops continued to be victims of exposure and frostbite as they served in flooded trenches without cover in freezing rain. After again suffering heavy losses at Loos the Indian Corps was withdrawn from France in December 1915 to be sent to Mesopotamia. Eventually, 90000 Indian combatants and 5000 non-combatants (Labour Companies) served in WW1 of whom 8557 combatants were killed (5000 with no known grave) and 5000 wounded. They fought for honour of race and regiment and 5 Indian/Gurkha soldiers won VCs.

After Neuve Chapelle

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 10th March 1915, was the first major engagement in which the 4Th Battalion took part. Notes associated with this well-known painting by Joseph Gray (1890-1962), war artist for The Graphic and sometime soldier in The Black Watch, identify ten individuals whose careers can be followed: - 

1. Lt Col Harry Walker CMC

2. Major John Balderston Muir DSO

3. Major Elmslie Tosh

4. Major J S Y Rogers MB, RAMC

5. Capt Edgar Leslie Boase

6. Capt F R Tarleton

7. 2nd Lieut Philip David Weinberg

8. Lieutenant Sidney Herbert Steven MC

9. Lieutenant Talbert Stevenson

10. 9507 RSM William Charles

Lt Col Harry Walker CMG

In business in Harry Walker & Sons Ltd, spinners & manufacturers, Caldrum Works, Harry Walker was a long-established Territorial who had become Commanding Ardvreck. He died of wounds sustained at Loos on 25th September on the 27th September. 

Incidentally, Dundee High School Records for 1880 tell something of his early life: with 11 year old Harry in his third year at the High School having been previously at Miss Buchan's. With his father, Peter Walker, manufacturer, he lived at 2 Airlie Place.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Website led to Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery where Lt Col Walker lies beside his Second-in-Command:

Major Emslie Tosh

Second-in-Command of the Battalion was the only son of Alex Tosh CA, Woodmuir Park, West Newport, born 1872 and educated in Dundee. At an early age he went as a trooper in Natal Mounted Police but returned to qualify as a CA and joined father's firm. Aged 26 he commanded a draft as a Lieutenant 1st Volunteer Battalion Royal Highlanders on 16 Nov 1898 to go to the Boer War attached to 2nd Battalion Black Watch. He gained the South African medal [Clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal]. The Lockit Book records his appointment as an Honorary Burgess of Dundee; and Contemporary Newspapers record his Boys' Brigade & other activities.
Wounded at Aubers Ridge on 9 May 1915, he had returned to the battalion to be killed, aged 43, at Loos on 25 September. The CWGC records indicate that his wife had remarried as Laura Wood Thomson and was living in Douglas, IoM.

2nd Lieut Philip David Weinberg

Although the Regimental Roll of Honour (Appendix III of Regimental History) shows that nearly 100 men had been lost before Loos, Philip was the only Battalion officer killed at this time. He had gone to France with A Company of the Battalion and, as Gray's painting records, he had survived Neuve Chapelle. The Regimental History recalls that he fell carrying platoon flag and waving his men forward at Aubers Ridge on 9 May 1915, aged 19. Son of Fred S & Grace Weinberg, Seafield Lodge, Broughty Ferry the CWGC Records led to his grave at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France. 

Capt Edgar Leslie Boase

One of several officers injured on 9 May in the assault on Aubers Ridge, The Dundee Year Book records that he was at home lecturing women's social groups on 'How to win the War' in September 1915. However, he returned to the Front to be attached to the 1st/7th Battalion, Black Watch and was killed on 30 July 1916, aged 48, in an attempt to extinguish a burning ammunition dump which threatened his men. He was the son of William Lindsay Boase & Elizabeth Russell Meldrum Boase and is buried at Serre Road Cemetery No 2

Lieutenant Sidney Herbert Steven MC

The London Gazette provides the Citation for Lieutenant Steven's Military Cross:
His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to confer the Military Cross on the undermentioned Officers, in recognition of their gallantry .and devotion to duty whilst serving with the Expeditionary Force: —
Lieutenant S. H. Steven, 1/4th (City of Dundee) Battalion, Royal Highlanders (T.F.). For conspicuous gallantry on 10th March, 1915, at Neuve Chapelle, when he commanded the leading platoon of his Battalion in the attack, and gained his objective notwithstanding the heavy enfilading fire to which his men were exposed.

What adds poignancy is that the next entry records the heroism of one of the Indian officers.
Jemadar Pancham Sing Mahar, 2nd Battion, 39th. Garhwal Rifles. For conspicuous gallantry on 10th March, 1915, during the attack at Neuve Chapelle, where he showed great dash in command of a party which advanced over the open and captured many prisoners and a machinegun.

Sidney Steven's Neuve Chapelle Correspondence is recorded in the article Dundee's Flodden in The Dundee Book which also includes reference to his bother Harvey Steven who was later killed in action. Both were sons of Robert Steven, 2 Invermark Terrace, Barnhill. Lieutenant Sidney Herbert Steven MC was killed at Loos on 25th September, aged 25. He is one of the many who have no known grave and whose names are recorded on the Loos Memorial Panel.

Loos Memorial Panel, Dud Corner CWGC Cemetery on site of Lens Road Redoubt with surrounding walls form memorial to 21,000 men with no known grave who fell at the Battle of Loos. Panels 78 to 83 record the names of over 700 of the Black Watch dead. Over the Memorial and the associated war-graves stands the almost universal tall white Cross of Sacrifice with bronze-coloured sword inset designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.

9507 RSM William Charles

Also named on the Loos Memorial, William Charles is the only member of the Other Ranks who could be identified in Gray's painting. Other Ranks provide an unnamed backdrop to the scene and many of them would be killed later, often "Known only to God" or to be listed on the Memorial Panels. The Regimental Sergeant Major as the senior non-commissioned officer and a regular soldier was a key figure in the Battalion. He had enlisted October 1891 and served in Egypt, South Africa, Mauritius, and India and held the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal. On the Western Front he was Mentioned in Dispatches before being killed at Loos on 25th September aged 41. His home was in King Street, Broughty Ferry.

Capt F R Tarleton DSO

This officer had arrived in France with the Battalion as Adjutant in February 1915. He had held this post as principal aide to the Commanding Officer for some time. He was a regular soldier and had served with 1st Battalion Black Watch in South Africa. He had been promoted Major for distinguished service in the field before Loos. He was wounded in the face in the Battle although early newspaper reports included his name in those killed.

Lieutenant Talbert Stevenson

Wounded at Aubers Ridge on 9th June this officer was not present at Loos but returned to the Front to be promoted Captain and to be awarded the Military Cross & Bar. When he was killed in action on 14th November 1917 aged 22, he was Adjutant of 4th/5th Battalion. CWGC Records identify him as son of Francis & Margaret Stevenson, 10 Dudhope Terrace.

The Survivors

Major John Balderston Muir DSO [CB, TD, DL, JP]

John Muir went to France with the battalion in command of B Company and was wounded at Aubers Ridge on 9th May and again on 5th July 15! As a result he was not present at Loos but rejoined the battalion on 25th November 1915. The Dundee Year Book noted his appointment to command 2/1st Ox & Bucks Light Infantry on 5 August 1916. Absentee Voter List 1919 records his return from war as Lt Col i/c 9th Royal Scots. Thereafter, as Commanding Officer of 4th Battalion The Black Watch, he presented Joseph Gray's painting to Corporation of City of Dundee in February 1922 on behalf of the officers of the Battalion. He continued to serve in the Post War Territorials and was Colonel of the 4th Battalion from 1922. Dundee Directory 1950, for instance, records John B Muir living at Holmstead, 1 Christian Road and in business in Thos Muir, Son, & Patton Ltd, coal merchants, carting contractors, builders' merchants, 158 Nethergate with 20 branches in Scotland. Sadly a Courier Death Notice on 22 February 1955 gave a brief mention of his death at home after a short illness. His funeral was private.

Major James S Y Rogers MB, RAMC [DSO.

Mentioned in Dispatches] Dr Rogers went to France as the battalion Medical Officer and, although wounded on 9th May, was fit for action at Loos where his work was much appreciated. The Absentee Voters List notes his return home from war to 7 Wellington Street still a Royal Army Medical Corps Major attached to the 4/5th Black Watch. Newspaper Obituary Tuesday 14 June 1949 recorded his death previous day at Wellington House, Wellington Street and provided details of his life: -
... born Rosemill, Angus 1868 ... a well-known sportsman with a distinguished army career... Hon President British Legion (Dundee Branch)... educated old Tay Square Academy and Stanley House, Bridge of Allan and graduated MB CM Edinburgh University at 21 ... after a short time in Monmouthshire started his Dundee practice 1893 and became assistant physician in Infirmary ... joined Volunteers 1896 ... to France with The Black Watch in 1915 as major; DSO &Bar 1916, Croix de Guerre with palm ... invented simple stretcher of great use in trench warfare ... when he went on the retired list he was senior colonel of Empire ... many years lectured on ambulance techniques to LNER , a member of the Order of St John of Jerusalem ... many years in charge of children's ward DRI where latterly an Hon Physician ... attached St Andrew's University as lecturer in children's diseases ... Hon Visiting Physician to Dundee Infants' Hospital for 25 years ... Pipers' Bairn 1936 ... survived by his wife.

A subsequent Newspaper Report noted that a large gathering had attended his funeral service at Crematorium Chapel on Friday 17 June 1949. Rev John Howe, Original Secession Church and Rev Harry Andrew, Gilfillan Church officiated and mourners included Lord Provost Fenton, Principal Wimberley, and representatives of medical and legal professions, the Territorial Army, and the British Legion. A bugler of The Black Watch had played a lament as mourners entered.

Newspaper Files Etc

Beyond the framework provided by Gray's painting, newspapers of the time, held in the Central Library, provide insight into contemporary attitudes, emphasising the position of officers and reporting only on the activities of British troops. The collection of Posters reminds us of the subtle influence of propaganda.
Dundee Year Books report a jute industry revival with massive production of sandbags - in different sizes to meet British, French and Russian requirements. The counterpoint, however, was the most massive industrial strike ever recorded. The Home Front was not always as supportive of the War Effort as memory might suggest.

War Memorials

There are striking Memorials in churches throughout the City: notably in St Mary's Church, with memorials both to the 4th Battalion and to members of the congregation, and in the Roman Catholic Cathedral. However, although the Post Office memorial plaque has survived, other memorials are an increasingly fragile record. Work is ongoing to record the memorials on a database.

Dundee Roll of Honour

The printed Roll of Honour was produced in the 1920s and includes the names of over 4200 men and one woman [Agnes G Mann] from the City killed in 1914 - 1918. Some 1200 had been in The Black Watch.

Absentee Voter List 1919

Ongoing work by volunteers is based on the printed lists prepared for the election in 1919. They form a record of those who were returning from War from all Services and, since women over 30 had been granted the vote, a few women's names appear. The lists will be of interest to family historians but they also remind us of the wide range of activities that had been involved and how things now taken for granted were just emerging: signals, for instance, were still a concern of the Royal Engineers. It has been intriguing to find Dundee soldiers who had been involved with the Chinese Labour Corps, with the Camel Corps, and in the flying of Airships.

Finally - A Last Word

From Col J S Y Rogers' 1928 Newspaper Account of Battle of Loos
The memory of the war is fading now into the misty past, but the people of Dundee will not forget. ... Forget! I know you never can, but let us all remember this day as a glorious one, the day which brought to light the wonderful manhood, the fighting qualities, and the spirit of self-sacrifice and love of others.
The love of peace is, I believe, the earnest desire of all civilised races. But let not the peace-maker decry the man of war who fought and fell for right against wrong. Theirs was not the war-like spirit with the lust to kill. Below the surface of the soldier lay the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.
Hope that victory would surely come so that right would overcome the wrong.
Faith in the future life that makes the earthly life seem small. Charity in the kindly consideration for the wounded and the dying, even facing death to succour a comrade in distress.
Let me now finish by saying on behalf of my comrades and myself, that our love and affection for those who fell and for those who suffered through grievous wounds continue to come, and that the sweet memories of them will never be dimmed to the end of time.

Iain D. McIntosh, 2020