IN 1914 Private Thomas McIndoe went to enlist and was rejected as looking too young. He went home, put on his bowler hat, returned and was accepted into the 12th Battalion, Middlesex Regt. He was still under 16.
In 1915 Mrs M. Hall requested war work and was sent to a munitions factory where for 10 hours each day, with only one break, she and her co-workers slowly turned yellow as they packed shells. Skin, hair and even toenails were affected, and the rashes they developed were a half-inch thick.
In 1916 Captain Philip Neame, 15th Field Company, Royal Engineers, was in one of the first brigades to ever see a tank. At Leuze Wood it broke down; possibly overworked by the time of the engagement on the Somme.
In 1917 at Third Ypres Private Frederick Collins of the Royal Tank Corps saw an elderly priest in a shell-hole giving the Last Rites to an officer whose brains had been blown out.
In 1918 Trooper Alexander Jamieson of the 11th Battalion, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, as they cleared Ypres, heard shouting – the war was over.
And Sergeant Major Richard Tobin, Hood Battalion, Royal Naval Division said that they were stunned. The guns had stopped; the fighting stopped; the killing stopped. He thought of the slaughter, the hardships, the waste and the friends he had lost.
(The above are all taken from Forgotten Voices of the Great War by Max Arthur. A very fine book.)
Our debt to those who served and died, and to those who served and survived, often to live with tormented memories of all they had been through as they battled for our freedom, can never be repaid. We must always remember them.
Thelma Edwards,
Old Comrades Hall, (my house but formerly used by the British Legion,)
Hume, Kelso.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel