Scots on the Western Front
Recruitment
Hundreds of thousands of men volunteered for the army
in the first few weeks of the war. Higher percentage of
young Scots volunteered compared to England.
Scotland was comparatively poor, so soldiering was a
way of escaping poverty. There was an initial rush to
enlist with the British Expeditionary Force; it had 157
battalions, 22 of which were Scottish. Often they
enlisted with friends and colleagues in pal’s battalions.
Many assumed that the war would be over by Christmas
1914. When young men joined the army in 1914-15, many
did so in search of adventure and action. Fear that it would be over by Christmas
and they would miss out was part of the reason why there was such a large
response to the recruitment campaign in the early months. By the end of the
war 584,098 Scots had served in the army.
Reasons for enlistment
– Patriotism (Posters)
– Highland Land Question
– Loyalty to Clan Chiefs/ Scotland’s
Martial Traditions
– King’s Shilling
– Pressure from employers
– Alternative to Prison
– Adventure and Local Loyalty
– Pals Battalion
– Over by Christmas
– Decent life and job
– Public Pressure
Experience
trenches
of
life
in
the
Soldiers spent two to three weeks at a
time in the front line trenches. Life in the
trenches was not pleasant. The following
were common:
 Mud and water lined the trenches –
this led to trench foot and
gangrene
 There were lice and rats
 Soldiers were often blinded from
gas attacks
 To eat, there was only bully beef
and hard biscuits
 There was constant noise and shelling
 There were lots of snipers, so periscopes were used to prevent soldiers
having to look over the trench
 Many soldiers suffered from shell shock: a mental condition caused by the
constant threat of death, noise and sight of friends being maimed or
killed close by.
A section of a British trench
The Daily Routine
The daily reality of fighting trench warfare,
while certainly fraught with danger often
seemed far from the heroic dreams of
cavalry charges and dramatic act of courage
and daring do.
 Most of the time there was no attack:
boredom was a problem
 Much of the work was done at night,
leading to a lack of sleep and
exhaustion
 There was a lot of digging and trench repair to be done, as well as
repairing barbed wire
 Patrols went out at night to spy on the enemy
 Soldiers had to spend time delousing
 Weapons had to be kept clean and operational
 Sappers were used to dig tunnels, to set explosives charges under enemy
trenches
 Soldiers snatched sleep in shallow dug outs
 At dawn every soldier had to “stand to” in case of enemy attack
 They could only stand down at dusk
Military Tactics
The war on the Western Front was a war of attrition (it was about how many
men and shells each side could employ, not about manoeuvres).
The Schlieffen Plan
Germany intended to defeat
France in six weeks by circling
round through Belgium and, in a
hammer swing, striking Paris
unawares. However, Belgium
refused to let Germany march
through and instead Germany
entered Belgium by force. In
1839 Britain had signed a treaty
with Belgium to protect it and
when Germany refused to
withdraw Britain declared war.
Russia mobilised far quicker than expected and many valuable German troops had
to be transferred to the east to face this new threat instead of pushing on to
defeat France.
Trench Warfare
The early part of the war on the Western Front saw the two sides struggle to
gain an advantage.
The Battle of Mons - August 1914 – the BEF (British Expeditionary Force)
successfully slow the German advance, but don’t stop it. The Kaiser called them
a “contemptible little army”.
The Battle of the Marne – the allied troops succeed in saving Paris and force the
Germans to retreat.
The Battle of Ypres – both sides made a “dash to the sea” to try to gain control
of the coastline, but at a terrible cost in lives.
This ended in stalemate and both sides dug trenches to stop the enemy
advancing further. By the end of 1914 the line of trenches stretched all the way
from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border.
Going over the top
For the British Empire troops and French
in particular, whose job it was to try to
move the Germans out of their entrenched
positions in Belgium and France, it was
necessary to climb out of the discomfort,
but relative safety, of the trenches and
advance across the muddied and cratered
landscape of no man’s land. Because the
weapons of the First World War favoured
defence, the tactics used led to particular
suffering and hardship for the side
carrying out the offensive.
 A preliminary bombardment was supposed to clear the way and force the
enemy out of there trenches. However, it warned the enemy of attack and
churned up the ground making it difficult to advance.
 When soldiers went over the top they often got caught in barbed wire
 Because of the lack of cover (trees and shrubs were obliterated in the
shelling) soldiers appeared in silhouette and were easily machine gunned.
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Soldiers were often ordered to advance at walking pace (so that officers
could keep control of the attack)
Casualties were often huge
o At Loos casualties were 21,000 dead (1/3 of which were Scots) and
o On the first day of the Somme 60,000 were killed and injured (still
a record for British forces)
New Technology
The First World War was fought by armies backed by mass factory production.
Factory machines could produce millions of shells, bullets and chemicals, and
artillery, machine guns, gas shells, and later tanks and aeroplanes.
Heavy Artillery
Before any ground assault thousands and thousands of shells were fired in
barrages at the enemy lines. The aim was “soften up” the enemy positions before
the infantry charged over the top.
Machine Guns
An incredibly destructive defensive weapon, the machine gun was used to mow
down the lines of advancing infantry. Two or three men would man the gun and be
able to fire up to 700 rounds per minute from a 200 bullet belt (with the
Vickers machine gun) or up to 500 rounds per minute from the more portable
Lewis gun.
Gas
Gas was first used by the Germans against the British at 2nd Ypres in 1915.
Chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas were the most deadly, but it was not a
decisive weapon as wind could blow the gas in the wrong direction and gas masks
lessened the impact.
Tanks
First used by the British at the Battle
of the Somme (1916), tanks were slow
moving (4mph) and frequently broke
down. However, they were intimidating
for the first Germans who saw them.
They were first effectively used at the
Battle of Cambrai (1917) where they
were used to punch through the enemy
lines.
Aircraft
Initially used for reconnaissance (along with hot air balloons) to spot for
artillery. By the end of the war they were in common use as fighter planes and
some were even used to drop small bombs.
Important Scottish Battles of World War One
The Battle of Loos
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Part of a series of battles by the allies to attack the large German salient
which ran from Flanders to Verdun. The French would attack in the south,
the British in the north.
British battles of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos.
Loos involved the first of Kitchener’s New Army divisions.
Scottish losses were so dreadful that no part of Scotland was unaffected.
The Black Watch (raised in Tayside) had massive casualties; the 9th lost
680 officers and men in the first hours of the fighting. Of 950 men of
the 6th Cameronians who went into battle, 700 were casualties.
A relatively meaningless battle in terms of what it achieved. Joint
French-British offensive. Haig was sceptical owing to the lack of artillery
and introduction of new army units. He was overruled by Kitchener. Haig
felt he did not have enough men and his reserves were far behind the
front line. Gas was to be used to make up for the lack of artillery.
Loos deserves to be called a Scottish battle owing to the large number of
Scottish troops in action: 30,000 took part in the attack.
Of 72 infantry battalions taking part in the first phase of the battle, half
were Scottish.
Came up against stiff German opposition organised in strong points such as
the Hohenzollern Redoubt, Fosse 8 and Hill 70.
Attack broke down owing to German reinforcement of their position and
time it took to get the reserve units up to support the limited successes
of the first day.
Five Victoria Crosses given to Scots after the battle in recognition of
their extraordinary bravery.
Of the 20,598 names of the dead on the memorial at Loos one-third are
Scottish.
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Bloody-minded attitude of the survivors: losses were replaced and the
Scottish units got back to the job in hand.
Piper Laidlaw
Despite the futility of this poorly planed offensive, the men who broke the
German lines and fell in the mud provided us with many examples of courage and
heroism. The most famous among these stories is that of
Piper Daniel Laidlaw.
The men of the 7th Kings Own Scottish Borderers (K.S.O.B.)
were under heavy shell fire the morning of Spetember 25,
1915. If that was not enough to unnerve the soldiers, a cloud
of poison gas began to drift over their posistion. A few of
the men began to cough and choke and many sucumbed
rappidly to the effects of the gas. The remainder were
shaken by the disturbing image they saw. The commanding
officer glanced over the scene as saw Laidlaw standing with
his pipes waiting orders to go ‘over the top.’
“Pipe them together, Laidlaw, for God’s sake, pipe them together,” cried the
commanding officer.
Immediately Laidlaw climbed onto the parapet and began marching up and down
the length of the trench. Bullets whizzed past him, shells burst near him, but
oblivious to the danger he played, “All the Blue Bonnets Over the Border.” The
effect it had on his company was almost magical. Seeing the men take courage,
the commading officer gave the order to advance and shouted, “Come on,
Borderers, who’ll be the first to reach the German trenches?”
Those not overcome by the gas swarmed up out of
the trenches with bayonets bristling and followed
Laidlaw into the assault. Men began falling all around
him, but Laidlaw continued piping until he got near the
German lines. Here he was hit and fell wounded and
the officer beside him was killed. Like many other
wounded pipers, he attempted to play, and then
managed to get up and hobble after the regiment.
For his efforts the 40 year old Laidlaw received the Victoria Cross. The official
entry in the London Gazette, November 18, 1915, read:
"During the worst of the bombardment, Piper Laidlaw, seeing that his company
was badly shaken from the effects of gas, with absolute coolness and disregard
of danger, mounted the parapet, marched up and down and played company out
of the trench. The effect of his splendid example was immediate and the
company dashed out to the assault. Piper Laidlaw continued playing his pipes until
he was wounded."
Laidlaw also received the French Criox de Guerre and was afterward promoted
to Sergeant-Piper.
The Battle of the Somme
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Three Scottish divisions - 9th, 15th (Scottish) and 51st (Highland) - took
part as well as numerous Scottish battalions in other units, eg the Scots
Guards in the Household Division. The 51 Scottish infantry battalions took
part in the Somme offensive at some time.
Douglas Haig, an Edinburgh-born Scot, was made commander-in-chief by
this time.
Haig planned to attack the Germans with overwhelming force. He would
break through their lines and take over the reserve areas.
A one-week bombardment from 1000 guns and a creeping barrage would
mean that British soldiers would be able to walk through German lines, it
was hoped. German lines were well prepared and the British armies
suffered horrendous casualties: 57,480 on the first day alone.
Examples of Scottish losses on the first day:
- 15th (Cranstons) Royal Scots lost 18 officers and 610 soldiers were
wounded, killed or missing
- 16th (McCraes) Royal Scots lost 12 officers and 573 soldiers
- 16th HLI lost 20 officers and 534 men
- 51st Highland division suffered 3500 casualties following two attacks on
an objective called High Wood.
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Despite losses there was still a belief in victory, but some criticism of war
and its slaughter began.
Successes existed as well: the 51st (Highland) division launched a
successful attack at Beaumont Hamel with relatively few casualties in
November 1918.
Tribute to the attitude of the Scottish soldier. Three platoons of the
16th HLI were isolated after an attack on a trench called Frankfurt
Trench. They held out for eight days against ferocious German attacks.
There was no military worth in their doing so. It said everything about
their attitude.
At least 400,000 British casualties.
Somme considered to be a win on points despite the slaughter for so little
gained. German commanders after the war felt the Somme had seen the
death of the German field army. Scottish units learned the lessons of the
battle despite their sacrifice.
9th (Scottish) Division performed well during the five months of fighting.
Casualties were high - 314 officers and 7203 other ranks - yet morale
remained high.
Arras
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Saw concentration of 44 Scottish battalions and seven Scottish-named
Canadian battalions, attacking on the first day, making it the largest
concentration of Scots to have fought together.
9th (Scottish), 15th (Scottish), 51st (Highland) Divisions as well as the
battalions in other divisions.
Very successful initial assault, but with localised losses impetus was lost:
German resistance stiffened and their reserves were brought up. Bad
weather and the failure of the accompanying French ‘Nivelle’ offensive did
not help either.
One third of the 159,000 British casualties were Scottish.
Scottish units also involved in Third Battle of Ypres and Cambrai.