8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers

1st October 1915 Relocations  16th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles - Pioneers.
The Move to France.
On the 1st October at 1900 the Battalion left camp at Bordon for embarkation at Southampton but on arrival no one knew anything about it and there was no transport awaiting them. This proved quite a common problem over the next month or so. They had to eat their rations while further food was sought for them and spend an uncomfortable night sleeping at the docks.
Next day the Empress Queen arrived to take them across the channel. The ship was licensed to carry 600 passengers between Greenwich and London Bridge whereas the battalion was over 1000 strong and the vessel was crossing the English Channel not plying between points in the River Thames. Despite a gale blowing they crossed safely and arrived in Le Havre.
Once again no one knew anything about the unit but it was eventually sent to tented accommodation and a hot meal organised and the men had to dig trenches around their tents as it was raining. Despite an order to move to entrain for the front Colonel Leader insisted the men had their hot meal first.
On arrival at the station it was no surprise that no one was expecting them, but eventually Colonel Leader was informed of an incoming train which would be put at their disposal. Again the CO got his men to a Red Cross canteen and fed before boarding the train. Apparently there was a bit of a commotion at the Red Cross Unit as it was run by Miss Lloyd George, daughter of the Prime Minister (the Home Rule instigator) and the men preferred to go hungry rather than give her any business. So they were directed to the girl serving on the other side of the station "same firm but you needn’t tell them that", was the advice given and the men got their meal.
At 1000 on the 4th October the train left on a 130km journey to Longueau on the outskirts of Amiens, arriving at 1900. As usual they were unexpected and there was no information regarding their destination. Fortunately the CO met an officer from the Division who gave him general directions to Villers Bocage on the Amiens-Doullens Road. They marched on, passing through Amiens, and arrived at their destination around midnight. The war diaries do not reveal any more details of the journey but they must have met a divisional advance party and perhaps one of their own battalion representative possibly one for each of the 4 companies, Headquarters and Transport.
They spent the next 7 days (4th to 11th October) in this village giving them a chance to settle after their journey. They were assigned light carpentry work and built a road for the Casualty Clearing Station.
A Church Service on Sunday 10th October was conducted by Captain A Gibson, appointed by his church in Lurgan as officiating chaplain to the Battalion and who was now billeted with them, but also attended to some other units. The remainder of the time must have been spent sorting out their tools and equipment together with loads for their pack mules and other transport arrangements for their future operations. The sound of gunfire was never far away and indeed the village had already been overrun and occupied by the Germans in the initial onslaught before the establishment of trench warfare brought it back under Allied control.
The campaign was soon to start and on 12th October the Battalion marched about 8 miles to be based at Raincheval and camped there to work on an army defence line in that area. This was about 7 miles from the firing line and was in a shocking sanitary state having been taken over from the French.
The village was in a low lying hollow and the men were billeted in barns and other surrounding buildings with an ample supply of straw underfoot. Such was the progress of the pioneer’s work that on 1st November the Battalion regimental canteen, library and reading room were opened. The Officers Mess and Battalion Headquarters were seemingly located in Raincheval Chateau.
The 20th October marked the first anniversary of the founding of the Battalion and was celebrated by a smoking concert at headquarters and smaller events in other detachments. RSM J Gordon sent a very detailed report on the central event to the Lurgan Mail.
On the 21st October the unit was inspected by the Second Army Sanitary Officer and although the war diary does not record his report, again RSM Gordon writing to the Lurgan Mail recorded that "he made a most complimentary report on the sanitation and added that our work should serve as a pattern to the rest of the army". Thus we begin to see evidence of the professionalism and pride in their work by this exceptionally fine Battalion.
Third Army Defence Line 14th October 1915 to 28th December 1915
The Battalion was now tasked with work on the Third Army Defence Line which initially covered a length of about 3,600 yards extending from a position south east of Toutencourt to Creftel Wood. Half the Battalion under the command of Major Bowen was moved to Toutencourt to cover work in the area of the Raincheval to Vauchelles Road. It was very hard work and an 8 hour day would have exhausted the strongest of men. It must be noted that they had no excavating or levelling machines so everything was done by hand with manual tools.
The ground consisted of heavy clay for a few yards then sand, limestone and chalk. Work continued every day in the week except for the odd half day for the very important tasks of washing clothes and bathing.
At the same time No 2 Company under the command of Captain SJ Platt was sent to Vignacourt about 5 miles west of Villers Bocage to cut down forest and prepare various timber components for use in the construction of earthwork defences by the rest of the Battalion.
Further sites were allocated on the 20th October.
Small parties were attached in rota to the 8th Bn Royal Scots Fusiliers who were also a pioneer battalion to give the officers and men experience of operations at the front under enemy fire. This gave them experience in erecting barbed wire defences, Wiring as it was termed.
The Terrors by SN White

12th of October 1915 77th Brigade Arrives

13th of October 1915 Reliefs

15th of October 1915 No Ammunition

16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme

17th of October 1915 Reliefs

18th of October 1915 Noisy Germans

24th of October 1915 Reliefs

25th of October 1915 German Mine Exploded

27th of October 1915 German Work Destroyed

29th of October 1915 Listening Post Blocked

1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets

11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment

10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens

9th February 1916 Call Ups

1st of October 1917 Orders Received

If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

Want to know more about 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers ?

There are:5245 items tagged 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers available in our Library

These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Those known to have served with
8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Brown James. Pte.
Geddes Robert Thompson. Pte. (d.19th Sep 1918)
Geddes Robert Thomson. Pte. (d.19th Sep 1918)
Hamilton John Peterson. Sgt. (d.19th Sep 1918)
Holliday Thomas. Pte. (d.19th Sep 1918)
Longbottom Albert. Pte. (d.19th Sep 1918)
Longbottom Albert. Pte. (d.19th Sep 1918)
McAlpine Archibald. Sgt. (d.28th Oct 1918)
McCallister Robert. Pte. (d.19th Sep 1918)
Rogan Bartholomew.
Teevan Thomas. L/Sgt.

All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

Records of 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers from other sources.

The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.

Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.

Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please see Family History FAQ's

Please note: We are unable to provide individual research.

Can you help?
The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors.
If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

19th Nov 2024
Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 264989 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.

Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.

World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.

Sgt. Archibald McAlpine 8th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.28th Oct 1918)

Archibald McAlpine is buried in Thessaloniki, Greece, he died in hospital of pneumonia on 28th of October 1918. He was survived by his widow Elizabeth and son James. Archibald was a teacher who sadly he never met his son.
Katie Walker

Add to this record.

Bartholomew Rogan 8th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers

Bartholomew Rogan lived in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was killed in action in the Balkans. Bartly was a married man who left a wife and three young daughters, Mary, Bridget and Helen. He is remembered by all his grandchildren and great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.
Thomas Watson

Add to this record.

Pte. Robert McCallister 8th Btn. Royal Scots Fusilers (d.19th Sep 1918)

Bobby McCallister was the younger brother of my grandfather Joe McCallister. Originally I understand he was in a different unit to Bobby but later he transferred to the same unit to join him. Bobby was killed at Pip Ridge during the Battle of Doiran in Greece. Family stories say that both brothers attacked together on that day but it was only when my grandfather returned that he found out his younger brother had been killed. He allegedly was shot in the neck, but I think that was often said as a way of thinking they hadn't suffered. Both brothers went up the hill but only one came down. Days later the enemy abandoned their positions and a couple of weeks later the war was over.
Ian

Add to this record.

Pte. Robert Thompson Geddes 8th Btn., D Coy. Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.19th Sep 1918)

Bob Geddes was killed at the Battle of Salonika. He is buried in the burial regional unit of Kilkis Central Macedonia Northern Greece (Dorian Cemetery). His parents were Agnes (nee Thompson) and William Geddes. According to my granny (his sister Catherine Geddes) "Bob left home in secret to join up, I saw him leave and waved him off". She was about 6 or 7 years old at the time. Bob's mother never actually believed that Bob had been killed and always expected him home soon.
Catherine Stephens

Add to this record.

L/Sgt. Thomas Teevan 8th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers

Thomas Teevan served with the 8th Btn Royal Scots Fusiliers. His disembarkation was 20th of Sep 1915 as a Private and demobilisation was on the 14th of Mar 1919 as a Lance Sergeant.
Trish Grigg

Add to this record.

Pte. Albert Longbottom 8th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.19th Sep 1918)

Albert Longbottom was killed in action on the 19th of September 1918, aged 25 and is buried in the Doiran Military Cemetery in Greece.
s flynn

Add to this record.

Sgt. John Peterson Hamilton 8th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.19th Sep 1918)

John Hamilton died on the 19th of September 1918, aged 23 and is buried in the Doiran Military Cemetery in Greece. Awarded the Italian Bronze Medal, he was the son of James and Jessie Hamilton of 2 Bardykes Rd. Blantyre, Lanarkshire.
s flynn

Add to this record.

Pte. Albert Longbottom 8th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers (d.19th Sep 1918)

Albert Longbottom served with the 8th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers during WW1 and was killed in action on the 19th September 1918, aged 25. He is buried in Doiran Military Cemetery, Greece.
S Flynn

Add to this record.

Pte. James "Snowy" Brown 8th Btn Royal Scots Fusiliers

My grandfather, James(Snowy) Brown enlisted when he was very young, some say at sixteen. He received the three medals better known as Pip Squeak and Wilfred. I have just inherited two of the three medals, (Squeak and Wilfred). The other is lost and may never be found. Although these medals have no financial value I treasure them and think how brave these young men must have been to face such horror at such a young age -God only knows what they went through. I can only imagine the shock and horrors that these men saw and lived. I can only say that I am indeed glad that it wasn't me.
Kevin Kirkwood

Add to this record.

Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.

The Wartime Memories Project
- 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers during the Great War -

8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers

Want to know more about 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers ?

Those known to have served with
8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project - 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers during the Great War -

8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers

Want to know more about 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers ?

Those known to have served with8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers during the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers during the Great War -

Those known to have served with
8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
during the Great War 1914-1918.