Family & Other Stories

Family & Other Stories - Alasdair Paterson

Duncan McKellar Paterson, my grandfather

My Grandfather was a sergeant in the 17th Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry and was at Authille on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, attacking the Leipzig Salient (see contemporary map attached).

He later was commissioned into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders as there were too few men left to form a new 17th Battalion following the massacre on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The photograph shows him with his men and also his Chinese workers, in their national costumes. The Chinese were there to dig trenches, repair fortifications and build roads and bridges. My Grandfather is the only officer wearing a Glengarry. I still have his Glengarry cap, his sgian-dubh and his swagger stick, all with the HLI regimental badge on them.

Pool of Peace, Spanbroekmolen

When we visited The Pool of Peace, Spanbroekmolen, I read an extract from a book by Gareth Hughes entitled Visiting the Somme and Ypres Battlefields Made Easy.

The Pool of Peace is the site of the largest of the nineteen mines which were fired under German strong points as part of the Messines Ridge campaign on 7 June, 1917. Chaplain William Doyle, of the 16th (Irish) Division, recorded the moments the mines blew:

'The guns had ceased firing, to give their crews a breathing space before the storm of battle broke; for a moment at least there was peace on earth and a calm which was almost more trying than the previous roar to us who knew what was coming. A prisoner told us that the enemy knew we were about to attack, but did not expect it for another couple of days. I pictured to myself our men, row upon row waiting in the darkness for the word to charge, and on the other side the Germans in their trenches and dug-outs, little thinking that [.] huge mines were laid under their feet, needing only a spark to blow them into eternity.

The tension of waiting was terrific, the strain almost unbearable. One felt inclined to scream out and send them warning. But all I could do was to stand on top of the trench and give them Absolution, trusting to God's mercy to speed it so far. 'Even now I can scarcely think of the scene which followed without trembling with horror.

Punctually to the second at 3.10 a.m. there was a deep muffled roar; the ground in front of where I stood rose up, as if some giant had wakened from his sleep and was bursting his way through the earth's crust, and then I saw seven huge columns of smoke and flames shoot hundreds of feet into the air, while masses of clay and stones, tons in weight, were hurled about like pebbles. I never before realised what an earthquake was like, for not only did the ground quiver and shake, but actually rocked backwards and forwards, so that I kept on my feet with difficulty. 'Later on I examined one of the mine craters, an appalling sight, for I knew that many a brave man, torn and burnt by the explosion, lay buried there.'

There was, however, a minor problem with the mine here at Spanbroelmolen. Eighteen mines blew at 0310. The nineteenth, this one, blew fifteen seconds late. A number of soldiers of the Royal Irish Rifles, having left their trench at 0310, may well have been killed by the explosion or the falling debris of their own mine. Many are buried in Lone Tree Cemetery, across the road from here. In order to preserve it as a memory of the fallen and to be a symbol for future peace, Lord Wakefield, of Toc H fame, bought this site in 1930 and it was christened the Pool of Peace.

Devonshire CWGC Cemetery

This extract is also from the book by Gareth Hughes entitled Visiting the Somme and Ypres Battlefields Made Easy. I read this at our visit to the Devonshire Cemetery.

On 1 July, men of the 8/ and 9/ Devons left their trench and made their way toward Mametz. This cemetery marks part of that front line. There are 163 men buried here. These men were those who left their trench and died in what are now the fields in front of the main road outside the cemetery. On the evening of 1 July their bodies were collected and brought back here for burial. They are, in effect, buried in the trench from which they attacked.

One man, Captain Duncan Martin, had anticipated what would happen to the men on that day. Whilst on leave he made a plasticine model of the ground they had to cross and the German positions in front. One point in particular was troubling him: The Shrine - a German machine gun position on the outside of Mametz village. His scale model proved his worries were not unfounded. It clearly showed that the 400 yards of land which the Devonshires had to cross were in open sight of the enfilade fire of the gun. They did not have a chance if it were not first destroyed. Martin passed on his concerns and, although a sympathetic response was received, no changes to the plan were made. Captain Martin knew he would die. He is buried here alongside his men.

Outside the entrance to this cemetery is a stone memorial which includes these words: 'The Devonshires held this trench, the Devonshires hold it still.'