Piper's heroic last stand

An interesting story we found from Asia recently. Article by Simon Parry:

Ron Abbott's children at the Sai Wan War Memorial where Pipe-Major Mackie is commemorated.

It was the day when, in one corner of the city at least, all that stood between the invading Japanese army and the conquest of Hong Kong was a lone Scotsman armed with nothing but a set of bagpipes.

Pipe-Major William Craigie Keith Mackie was reportedly last seen alive on Christmas Eve, 1941, at Stanley, Hong Kong, playing the tunes "Cock O' the North" and "Heilan' Laddie" as the Japanese attacked.

Aged 59, Pipe-Major Mackie was a retired soldier who came to work in Hong Kong between the two world wars. A member of the volunteer defence force, he died in the last stand of British Commonwealth forces around Stanley just a day before Hong Kong was surrendered to the Japanese.

His story - with Japanese invaders finding one of the last lines of defence in Stanley not a gun post but a Scotsman with a set of bagpipes and a repertoire of Highland tunes - confirms Hong Kong's powerful and durable bond with the instrument.

Ron Abbott, chairman of the Hong Kong Piping Society, has researched the story of the heroic piper's last stand and has found that before moving to the Far East, Mackie served in World War I where he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his service in France.

His name is recorded at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Sai Wan in Hong Kong as well as the war memorial at St John's Church in his native Dumfries, Scotland.

Abbott said Mackie was a member of the Scottish company of the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps which formed its own Pipes and Drums unit in 1920. A 1932 China Mail article traced by Abbott describes how a performance was led by "pipers under Pipe-Major Mackie".

Today, bagpipe bands are flourishing in communities across Asia including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and even Shanghai and Beijing. Japan, meanwhile, has a large number of its own pipe bands and even has its own annual Highland Games. Pipe-Major Mackie would undoubtedly have approved.

Pipe-Major Mackie's details recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission can be viewed here.

The Second World War memorial in St John's Church, Dumfries can be viewed on the Scottish War Memorials Project site.

Sites of Interest: Stobs Military Camp

Long standing SMRG member Derek Robertson from Hawick has once again got his website about Stobs Camp online. It’s well worth a visit to Derek’s website to learn more about this camp in the Scottish Borders.

Please take the time to go and search through many of the fascinating pages and photographs on Derek’s site here:

Stobs Military Camp

Every cloud has a silver lining

Both World Wars saw the battalions of the Scottish regiments suffering heavy casualties. The regular battalions of the regiments were particularly hard hit with them being involved in the opening phases of both wars and fighting on to the end. In one particular regiment though a peculiar thing happened. In 1914 and 1940 in the early stages of both wars the 1st Bn Gordon Highlanders were forced to surrender.

In 1914 they were trapped by encircling German Troops at Le Cateau and in 1940 they were trapped at St Valery. In both cases the battalion was swiftly recreated from depots and drafts and served on to win laurels for the regiment.

So where is the silver lining to this cloud? Well, the surrenders in both 1914 and 1940 meant that instead of being killed the pre-war regular soldiers were made prisoners of war and in many cases will have survived to return to their regiments in peace time. This means they will have returned with the traditions of the regiments which may have been lost to other regiments which suffered heavy casualties of their pre-war officers and men.

In both wars other Scottish battalions surrendered, in fact the Gordons had the misfortune to surrender three battalions in WW2 (1st and 5th in France in 1940, and 2nd Bn in Singapore in 1942) but as far as I can see only the old 75th, 1st Bn Gordon Highlanders surrendered early on in both world wars so the continuity of traditions between 1918 and 1939 and post-1945 may have been stronger in that unit than in others.

This is just an observation from me, but perhaps it's something worth delving into further. It's not something I'll be looking into but maybe someone out there may care to use it as a basis for a academic thesis?

(Text by Adam Brown)

Success in hunt for family of fallen war hero

A successful follow-up to an article we posted back in November, from the Edinburgh Evening News:

The closest surviving relatives of a soldier killed in a bomb blast in France more than 90 years ago have been traced by Edinburgh historians.

Charles F Fox died on June 6, 1918, on a farm in the village of Fletre in northern France, along with two other Edinburgh soldiers, William Marr Constable and Andrew Scott Greig.

Farm owner Didier Godderis enlisted the help of local historian Yvonne McEwen, honorary fellow at Edinburgh University's Centre for the Study of the Two World Wars, to find out more about the men killed in his barn all those years ago.

Along with her husband Alistair, she managed to find personal details of the soldiers from the 1901 census and from birth records and has now managed to track down members of Edinburgh-born Mr Fox's family.

Gordon McDonald is Mr Fox's great-great-great nephew and was traced by the historians through the website ancestry.co.uk, as Mr McDonald had already been researching his family tree.

He said he had been aware of the existence of Mr Fox, but knew no more than that.

Mr McDonald, a physics teacher at Beath High School in Fife, said: "His closest living relative is actually my mother, who is 84, as my mum's grandmother, Emily Fox, was Charles' sister. My mum can remember her but doesn't remember Charles. I hadn't researched Charles as such as part of the family tree so I hadn't realised he was a war casualty.

"He was born in Bread Street, Edinburgh, but he doesn't seem to have married.

"I was told he was of German descent, which was a bit of a surprise to my mum, but she said it actually explained a lot about her grandmother and some of her mannerisms."

The owner of the farm where the soldiers were killed wants to honour them by organising a memorial service to take place on June 10, 2012 and wants to find all of the families before then so that they can attend the ceremony.

Mr McDonald, 54, said he would love to take his mother out to France for the service.

He added: "I actually visited the war graves of two other relatives, Michael and Peter Owens, before I found out about Charles. It's quite emotional to think that someone you're related to is buried there. I'd love my mum to be able to go to the service because she is the closest relative of Charles that I'm aware of."

Dr McEwen, who has recently launched an online archive called Edinburgh's War, has also been in contact with the family of one of the other soldiers and hopes to be able to find the third family. She said: "Didier is absolutely over the moon that we have found these families.

"They have got all kinds of wonderful things planned for the ceremony, which I will also be attending."

Her husband Alistair, who found Mr McDonald through the family tree website, said it was great to be able to share information with relatives.

He added: "It all came as a huge surprise for Mr McDonald. It gives you a warm feeling inside."

Anyone with information on any of the soldiers can get in touch with Dr McEwen through www.edinburghs-war.ed.ac.uk or on 0131-651 1254.

Hamilton war veteran to receive an MBE

Article by Gillian Provan from the STV News website. I've seen Ian at a number of remembrance services. My congratulations to him.

A Hamilton war veteran joins an elite group of Scots by featuring in the New Year’s Honour List.

Ian Forsyth, the president of the Hamilton branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland will receive a MBE from the Queen for his voluntary services to the charity.

Ian appears on the list alongside high profile Scots such as Annie Lennox and MP Anne Begg.

The 86-year-old, who is also convener of the Hamilton area branch of Poppy Scotland has spent years raising money for ex-servicemen and women after fighting for his country in the Second World War.

Ian said: "I never dreamed that I would be recognised in this way.

"It was a surprise and an honour when the letter came through the post and very difficult not to tell my friends and family.

"The letter said the ceremony could be held in Edinburgh or London. I’m hoping for my family’s sake that it will be in London so they can come.

"It would mean I can stay with my daughter in Reading!"

Wartime experiences

The grandfather-of-five joined the army when he was 17 and trained as a wireless operator with the 19th Hussars.

Ian was on board a Churchill tank and on reconnaissance with the 11th Armoured Division that landed in Normandy, fighting in France, Belgium and the Netherlands before going over the Rhine into Germany.

Three of Ian’s tanks were destroyed and he was lucky to escape with his life.

The most poignant of his war memories was his near death experience on board a tank beside the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp which housed around 60,000 people in 1945.

Ian revisited the former death camp, on the 65th anniversary of its liberation last year.

He said: “In war you witness first-hand the depths to which humanity can sink. I was thunderstruck by what I saw – it was the first time that I realised exactly why we were fighting the war.

"The sights that I saw still make me weep.

"To go back was very emotional - it was not the first time I’ve been back - but it was a very special event.

"It was extraordinary to go there and see men with their grandchildren - I can never really explain my feelings.”

Post war

After the war Ian went on to spend three years with the army in Palestine.

He explained: “It was completely different from the war time experience. It was a wonderful place, even though there were the same risks.

“We were supposed to keep law and order as the country was split between the Arabs and Isralis. I can understand the feelings of the Israelis they were dreaming of a better life away from the starvation and deprivation and there was this frustration and anger.”

Teaching life

In the 1950s following his spell with the army, Ian returned to his home town of Hamilton and began a new life as a teacher at Rutherglen Academy.

The father-of-two - who specialised in engineering and technology - also taught at Lanark Academy and latterly in Larkhall Academy.

These days Ian is kept busy with the Royal British Legion in Scotland, Hamilton branch.

The association organise a memorial service every year and look after the memorial garden.

Ian said: “I’ve been involved with the Royal British Legion from birth.

“My father, grandfather and uncle were founding members and I travelled around the country with them when I was a boy.

“Our work goes on all year and we have collections in Hamilton, East Kilbride and Motherwell to send to charities like the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

“We’re always looking for new members.”

The association meet at Greenfields Social Club every Wednesday of the month from 7pm.

The Scottish Soldier in Bronze and Stone

Happy New Year!

As the first post of 2011 we thought a small treat was in store.

Below is a short film created by Adam Brown, showcasing some of the memorials on Scotland. We hope you enjoy it!

2010 Review of the Year

As we approach the end of 2010, we decided to look back on some of the projects the Research Group has worked on, and to look forward to what 2011 may bring.

Our primary project, the Scottish War Memorials Project has continued to add new memorials and additional information throughout the year. As time goes by, the number of “new” memorials to be added has diminished, but there is always information to be added, and new memorials do continue to be found. The number of civic memorials added to the project is something we can feel justifiably proud of, and our focus in the future will be to add memorials from other sources such as churches, places of work and school/colleges.

Memorials continue to make news headlines, and a recent story in the Courier newspaper was cause for cautious celebration, as the memorial to the men of Mains, located in Caird Park in Dundee will hopefully undergo restoration and relocation in 2011. The members of the Research Group can feel some small amount of pride in this, as it was our initial discovery of the condition of the memorial, and our highlighting it to both the media and local interested parties were the opening stages of what has proven to be a long and complicated process. Hopefully the end of the tunnel is in sight for this much neglected memorial.

Our War Graves Project also continued this year, with new grave photographs added on a regular basis. I will admit that I personally have let my involvement in this project slip as I have worked on other things, but 201 will see me attempting to take a more active interest in this project.

Several members of the Research Group spent a lot of time and effort this year working with the University of Edinburgh on a website concentrating on the efforts of people from Edinburgh and the Lothians during the First World War. The Edinburgh’s War website went live in October this year and has been a great success. 2011 should see more work on the website – watch this space!

Looking at our own projects, the Roll of Honour for the city of Glasgow has lain dormant for a little while, but only last week we were able to launch the first batch of surnames from the transcription. 2011 will see us continue to work on this, with a hopefully second batch being released in the spring.

Another new project, the indexing of the Daily Record for the Great War, has been progressing well. I have been working on the issues from 1915 and John Houston has been indexing those from 1917. Between the two of us we now have almost 12 months of indexing completed, and next year will see that work continue. To see a glimpse of how the complete index will look, we recently showcased the index for January 1915. We're always looking for people to assist with the indexing - if you think you can help, please get in touch!

This year also saw this blog making more of an impact – when I started it in late 2008 I saw it as a method of getting news, research items of interest, and articles “out there” where they might be of interest. I’d like to think that now we’ve finally got the correct balance of news items and our own articles –long may this continue into next year and beyond. We’re also hoping that next year will see more “guest authors” writing for the blog – got something to say? Let us know and we’ll post it here!

The final new development was the launch of our Facebook page – I’ve been using Facebook for a while now, and it seemed a sensible move to create a page for the SMRG – early days yet, but fingers crossed it can grow into a useful hub for information.

So…that was 2010. I’ve made mention of a few things in store for next year, but who knows what’s round the corner? I hope you’ll stay with us to see what crops up!