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4th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders
The 4th (Ross Highland) Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders was a unit of the Territorial Force, at the outbreak of war they were part of the Seaforth and Cameron Brigade, Highland Division and had their HQ at Dingwall. When war broke out in August 1914, they had just departed for annual camp and were at once recalled to home base, they mobilised for full time war service on the 5th of August 1914 and the Division concentrated at Bedford. They proceeded to France on the 7th of November, landing at Le Havre, and joined the Dehra Dun Brigade, 7th (Meerut) Division. On the 6th of November 1915 they transferred to 137th Brigade, 46th (North Midland) Division but on the
13th transferred again to 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division. On the 7th of January 1916 they transferred to 154th Brigade, 51st (Highland) Division, they were in action in the Battles of the Somme, including the attacks on High Wood and The Battle of the Ancre, capturing Beaumont Hamel, taking more than 2000 prisoners. In 1917 They took part in the Arras Offensive, The Battle of Pilkem Ridge, The Battle of Menin Road Ridge and the Cambrai Operations. They remained in the Cambrai area until the 21st of March 1918, when the enemy launched an overwhelming attack and the Division were engaged in a fighting withdrawal back to Bapaume. In April they moved north and fought in The Battles of the Lys before a quiet spell at Oppy near Arras, from May to July. They were then in action at The Battle of the Tardenois, The Battle of the Scarpe, The pursuit to the Selle and the Final Advance in Picardy. They were resting the Cambrai-Iwuy area at the Armistice. The 4th Seaforth Highlanders, along with the 6th Black Watch and 4th Gordon Highlanders were selected to join the Army of Occupation on the Rhine and left for Germany in February 1919.
1st Dec 1914 The King in France
2nd Apr 1915 Easter Holiday
11th Apr 1915 Aircraft Active
9th May 1915 The Battle of Aubers Ridge: The Souther pincer Richebourg L’Avoue. At 4.06am: sunrise and all very quiet on this front.
5.00am: British bombardment opens with field guns firing shrapnel at the German wire and howitzers firing High Explosive shells onto front line. German troops are seen peering above their parapet even while this shelling was going on.
5.30am: British bombardment intensifies, field guns switch to HE and also fire at breastworks. The lead battalions of the two assaulting Brigades of 1st Division go over the top to take up a position only 80 yards from German front. (2nd Brigade has 1/Northants and 2/Royal Sussex in front and 2/KRRC and 1/5th Royal Sussex in immediate support; 3rd Brigade has 2/Royal Munster Fusiliers and 2/Welsh in front, with 1/4th Royal Welsh Fusiliers in support). Heavy machine-gun fire cuts the attackers down even on their own ladders and parapet steps, but men continue to press forward as ordered.
In the area of the Indian Corps, the lead battalions of the Dehra Dun Brigade of the Meerut Division (2/2nd Ghurkas, 1/4th and 1st Seaforth Highlanders) were so badly hit by enemy fire that no men got beyond their own parapet and the front-line and communications trenches were soon filled with dead and wounded men.
5.40am: British bombardment lifts off front lines and advances 600 yards; infantry assault begins. Despite the early losses and enemy fire the three Brigades attempted to advance across No Man's Land. They were met by intense crossfire from the German machine-guns, which could not be seen in their ground-level and strongly protected emplacements. Whole lines of men were seen to be hit. Few lanes had been cut in the wire and even where men reached it they were forced to bunch, forming good targets for the enemy gunners. The leading battalions suffered very significant losses, particularly among officers and junior leaders. Around 100 men on the Northants and Munsters got into the German front, but all were killed or captured. The advance of the supporting battalions suffered similarly, and by 6.00am the advance had halted, with hundreds of men pinned down in No Man's Land, unable to advance or fall back.
6.15am: A repeat of the initial bombardment is ordered, with the added difficulty of uncertain locations of the most advanced troops.
7.20am: Major-General Haking (CO, 1st Division) reports failure and asks if he should bring in his last Brigade (1st (Guards)). He offered his opinion that it would not be successful.
7.45am: A further one hour bombardment starts, ordered by Lieut-General Anderson (CO, Meerut Division). Its only impact is to encourage German artillery to reply, bringing heavy shelling down onto British front and support trenches. German fire continued until about 10.30am.
8.00am: First reports reach Haig, but they underestimate losses and problems. Haig also hears of early French successes in Vimy attack; he resolves to renew the effort in the Southern attack, with noon being the new zero
hour. This was subsequently moved when it was learned from I Corps how long it would take to bring supporting units up to replace those that had suffered in the initial attacks. The new attack at 2.40pm would again be preceded by a 40 minute bombardment. The various movements of relief forces were achieved only with much confusion and further losses under renewed enemy shellfire. The time was again moved, to 4.00pm. In the meantime, the German infantry in the Bois de Biez area was reinforced.
3.20pm: Bombardment repeated and seen to be a little more successful, blowing gaps in the wire and in the enemy front-line.
3.45pm: Bareilly Brigade, moving up to relieve the Dehra Dun, loses more than 200 men due to enemy shelling.
3.57pm: The leading companies of the 1/Black Watch of 1st (Guards) Brigade, brought in to replace the shattered 2nd Brigade, went over the top despite the 1/Cameron Highlanders being late to arrive and moved at the double across No Man's Land. Some reached the German breastwork just as the bombardment lifted; most were however killed or captured in the German firing trench although a small party reached the second position. The two lead companies of the Camerons, coming up on the left of the Black Watch a few minutes later, suffered heavy machine-gun casualties in crossing between the front lines. At approximately the same time, the two fresh battalions of the 3rd Brigade, the 1/Gloucestershire and 1/South Wales Borderers began to advance but were cut down without reaching the enemy. Meerut Division orders Bareilly Brigade to advance, even though it is clear that conditions are unchanged: few men even reached a small ditch 20 yards in front of their own front line, and the Brigade suffered more than 1000 casualties within minutes.
4.35pm: 1st Division orders another 10 minutes shelling but it is seen to have no effect.
4.40pm: Large explosion at German ammunition dump in Herlies, hit by a long-range British heavy shell. Smoke clouds drifting towards British lines caused a gas alarm. Br-Gen. Southey (CO, Bareilly Brigade) reports that further attempts to advance would be useless.
5.00pm: General Haig, hearing of the continued failure of the Southern attack, orders 2nd Division to relieve 1st Division with a view to a bayonet attack at dusk, 8.00pm.
8th of August 1915 In the Trenches
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
30th Nov 1915 Reliefs 
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
6th Dec 1915 Quiet
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
9th February 1916 Call Ups
1st Jul 1916 Shelling
2nd Jul 1916 Mine
3rd Jul 1916 Shelling
10th Jul 1916 Camouflet
11th Jul 1916 Shelling
12th Jul 1916 Reliefs
13th Jul 1916 Trench Raid
14th Jul 1916 Relief Completed
15th Jul 1916 On the Move
16th Jul 1916 On the Move
19th Jul 1916 Orders
20th Jul 1916 On the Move
21st Jul 1916 Orders Received
22nd Jul 1916 Reliefs Completed
22nd Jul 1916 Preparations
23rd Jul 1916 In Action
23rd Jul 1916 Attack Made
23rd July 1916 In Firing Line
24th Jul 1916 Heavy Shelling
24th July 1916 Very heavy shelling started at 0600 hours in valley by Caterpillar Wood, and again at 0900 hours
25th Jul 1916 Reliefs
25th Jul 1916 Heavy Shelling
25th July 1916 Received orders from Brigade about our relief at 0430 hours.
26th Jul 1916 Relief
27th Jul 1916 Attacks Made
28th Jul 1916 Shelling
29th Jul 1916 Heavy Shelling
30th Jul 1916 Attack Made
31st Jul 1916 Consolidation
31st Jul 1916 Report
1st Aug 1916 Instructions
2nd of September 1916 Quiet Morning
9th Apr 1917 The Wounded
5th Oct 1917 Reliefs Complete
15th Oct 1917 Preparations
19th Oct 1917 Line Taken Over
13th Nov 1917 In Action
14th Nov 1917 In Action
16th Nov 1917 Report
21st of March 1918 Intense Barrage
15th August 1918 Reliefs
15th August 1918 Operational Order.
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with4th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders during the Great War 1914-1918. - Bell Arthur S.. Pte. (d.14th October 1918)
- Christie Malcolm Ross. Pte. (d.9th May 1915 )
- Close James. Pte (d.26th April 1917)
- Dowling William Joseph. Pte. (d.27th Oct 1916)
- Fienbugh Maurice. Pte.
- Finch Aubrey Cecil Malcolm. Capt. (d.7th July 1919)
- Finch Ernest Wilfred Rupert. Lt. (d.7th Aug 1916)
- Fisher Oscar. (d.30th Jul 1918)
- Fleming Robert. (d.1916)
- Gemmel G.. Pte. (d.23rd March 1918)
- Glen James. Pte.
- Graham Alexander. Pte. (d.27th Jul 1916)
- Grant John. Sgt. (d.9th April 1918)
- Hudson Leonard. Pte.
- Hughes John Hughes. L/Cpl.
- Kelly Thomas. Pte.
- Maclennan John Murdo. Pte. (d.11th Mar 1915)
- Malcolm MM. James. Pte. (d.12th October 1918)
- McCracken Wilson. Pte. (d.12th Oct 1918)
- McCulloch James. Pte.
- McDonald Neil. Pte. (d.9th April 1918)
- McPherson John B.. Pte. (d.10th Apr 1917)
- Meikle VC MM. John. Sgt. (d.20th Jul 1918)
- Murray MM. Colin Macdonald. L/Sgt.
- Oldershaw Walter. Pte.
- Oman James Williams. Pte. (d.19th Sep 1917)
- Patience George. Sgt. (d.7th May 1915)
- Payne Harry Archibald. Pte. (d.26th Apr 1917)
- Pearson Angus. Pte (d.9th April 1918)
- Peers Richard. Pte. (d.28th Oct 1918)
- shaw Alan Louis. L/Cpl. (d.9th May 1915)
- Thompson Frank. Pte.
- Turner Angus. L/Cpl.
- Wishart William. Pte. (d.8th May 1917)
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 4th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders from other sources.
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Sgt. John Meikle VC MM. 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.20th Jul 1918)  John Meikle was killed in action on 20th July 1918 aged 19 and is buried in the Marfaux (New Zealand) Memorial in France.
An extract from The London Gazette, dated 13th Sept., 1918, records the following:- "For most conspicuous bravery and initiative when his company, having been held up by machine-gun fire, he rushed single-handed a machine-gun nest. He emptied his revolver into the crews of the two guns and put the remainder out of action with a heavy stick. Then, standing up, he waved his comrades on. Very shortly afterward another hostile machine-gun checked progress, and threatened also the success of the company on the right. Most of his platoon having become casualties, Serjt. Meikle seized the rifle and bayonet of a fallen comrade, and again rushed forward against the gun crew, but was killed almost on the gun position. His bravery allowed two other men who followed him to put this gun out of action. This gallant non-commissioned officer's valour, devotion to duty, and utter disregard for his personal safety was an inspiring example to all."
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L/Cpl. Alan Louis "Lou" shaw 4th Btn, B Coy. Seaforth Highlanders (d.9th May 1915) Lou Shaw and his brother Stanley died on the same day in May 1915. The third brother Arthur and brother in law H G Bellamy also joined the Seaforths and they both survived the war. The three Shaw brothers were known as the 19 feet of Shaw as they were all well over 6 feet tall and in total made 19 feet!
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Pte. Thomas Kelly 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders Thomas Kelly was wounded in September 1915 but was refused an army pension. He died on the 6th of April 1919
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Pte. Neil McDonald 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.9th April 1918) Neil McDonald served with the 4th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders in WW1. He died 9th of April 1918 and is remembered on the Loos Memorial in France.
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Pte. Frank Thompson 7th Btn. Black Watch My grandfather, Frank Thompson, served with the 7th Battalion, Black Watch and the 5th and 4th Battalions, Seaforth Highlanders in WW1.
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Sgt. John Grant 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (d.9th April 1918) My Great Grandfather, John Grant, was born in 1880. Son of James and Betsy Grant. He worked as a gamekeeper and married my Great Grandmother Annabella in Grantown on Spey in 1910. They had 2 children Elizabeth and James.
I don't know much about his military service but know he was killed in France on the 9th April 1918. He is remembered at Loos Memorial.
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Pte. Wilson McCracken 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (d.12th Oct 1918) Wilson McCracken was my grandmother's first husband. He was born in Listowel, Co.Kerry in 1893 and enlisted in Belfast Co.Antrim. He is buried at the Saint Aubert British Cemetery Nord in France.
He married my grandmother in June 1915 just before he left for war and she never saw him again. They had no children. He was killed in action on 12th of October 1918 just under a month before the end of WW1, very sad.
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Pte. Alexander Graham 4th Btn. D Coy. Seaforth Highlanders (d.27th Jul 1916) Alexander Graham was born on the 16th of May 1884 at 8 Mary Street, Dundashill, Glasgow
He died on the 27th July 1916 at the Somme and is buried at Dartmoor Cemetery, Becodel-Becourt.
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L/Sgt. Colin Macdonald Murray MM. 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders My grandfather Colin Murray was a weaver from Rogart who lived on a croft with his widowed mother. He was very tall for his age and the story goes he lied about his age to enlist.
Anyway, he was very brave but also had a bit of a temper as he was demoted once for not getting off wooden planks and stand in thick mud so an officer could walk by. He was promoted back up to sergeant in days as they needed men like him.
He was awarded the Military Medal, I believe, for leading a successful attack on a German machine gun. But I don't know the story. I'd love to find out. He did this on the 20th of July 1918.
He came home with a German officer's handgun which has disappeared over the years.
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Pte. Arthur S. Bell 1/4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.14th October 1918) Arthur Bell died of wounds at No.30 Casualty Clearing Station on 14th of October 1918 while serving with 1/4th Seaforth Highlanders in France. Before that he served with the ASC and the Lancashire Fusiliers.
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Pte. John B. McPherson 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (d.10th Apr 1917) John McPherson may have been my Mother's uncle, I ran across this name in doing genealogical research. The number of young men who died in WWI is beyond heartbreaking. May they all be resting in peace.
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Pte. James McCulloch 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders My great uncle James McCulloch, enlisted 21st of June 1915 and was discharged (due to wounds) on 4th of March 1918. He was one of four brothers (including my grandfather) who served in WW1, and who all survived. He passed away in in April 1945.
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Pte. James Malcolm MM. 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (d.12th October 1918) James Malcolm was my great uncle. He was a stretcher bearer with 4th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders. He was killed whilst tending to an injured comrade on the battlefield. Aged 20, he is buried at Iwuy Communal Cemetery in Northern France.
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Pte. William Wishart 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.8th May 1917) Billy Wishart was killed in action in Mesopotamia on 8th of May 1917. He is buried in Amara Cemetery in Iraq. He is mentioned in the Book of Remembrance in Edinburgh Castle.
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Pte. Leonard Hudson 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders My grandfather, Leonard Hudson, was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1889 and worked in one of the city's many mills when he was a young man. In May 1915 the Seaforth Highlanders visited Yorkshire on a recruiting campaign, and he decided to enlist. He crossed to France in November 1915, and four months later his wife Gladys was informed that he had been wounded and admitted to Le Tréport hospital with gunshot wounds. On 20th March 1916 he was invalided to England and taken to the military hospital at Abbot's Barton in Canterbury.
He was wounded again in 1917 (once) and 1918 (three times), and I have five official notifications that were sent to his family in Bradford. My grandmother appears to have kept all the documentation she had relating to his military service, and I have since inherited various forms and letters.
I knew him when I was growing up in Bradford in the 1950s, and I remember him as a mild-mannered man who loved to reminisce about Fort George in the Scottish Highlands, where he had been stationed. In 1956 he achieved his ambition of going back for 'one last look' when he and his wife Gladys went on an eight-day coach tour of Scotland and stayed at nearby Nairn. The brochure is among the documents that I have inherited, and they paid eighteen and a half guineas each.
In the 1950s he worked in the time-office of a printers and box makers in Lidget Green, Bradford and this was followed by a spell as a school crossing 'lollipop man' outside my primary school in Lidget Green.
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Pte. James Glen 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders James Glen was my wife's Grandfather. No more details of his service are known. He passed away in 2016.
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Pte. G. Gemmel 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.23rd March 1918) Private Gemmel died of gunshot wounds to his head on 23rd March 1918 at 29 Casualty Clearing Station, Grevillers. He is buried in Grave XI.E.5 at Grevillers British Cemetery.
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Pte. Richard Peers 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.28th Oct 1918) All I know is Richard Peers died in the war. He is buried in Aulnoy Cemetery in France. I don't know how or were he died but would love to find out.
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Lt. Ernest Wilfred Rupert Finch 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.7th Aug 1916) Ernest Finch was the older brother of Capt. Aubrey Finch, also of the 4th Seaforths.
He was promoted to Captain on the battlefield, but did not live long enough to receive papers to that effect and is buried at Puchevillers Military Cemetery, France.
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Capt. Aubrey Cecil Malcolm Finch 4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders (d.7th July 1919) Aubrey Finch is believed to have been promoted on the battlefield, due to extremely high casualties.
Aubrey married Mabel Dorothy Glover (approx) 1st June 1918 at Woolwich, Kent while on leave. The family has lost track of her.
Apparently, he then left immediately aboard RMS Olympic, bound for New York, arriving there on 8th June 1918.
He was part of an elite international force sent to Arkangelisk and was killed in action on 7th July 1919. His older brother, Lt. Ernest Wilfred Rupert Finch, also in the Seaforths, was killed in action in August 1916. He, too, had been promoted to Captain on the field, but did not live long enough to receive papers to that effect.
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