The London Scottish In The Great War

For two centuries the officers and men of the London Scottish have faithfully served their country, never more so than during the terrible years of the Great War. Initially with the 1st Guards Brigade, and later with the 56th (London) Division, the 1st Battalion was so committed to the prosecution of its cause that by November 1918 its numbers included only three survivors of the original Battle of Messines.The 2nd Battalion saw action in campaigns as diverse as France and Flanders, Ireland, the Balkans and Palestine where it won two Victoria Crosses.The London Scottish in the Great War does not set out to recite the oft-told famous battles fought and won. Rather it employs a wealth of previously unpublished war journals, diaries and photographs to provide a unique insight into this most auspicious Regiment.It demonstrates as no history of the London Scottish has before the hopes sufferings and aspirations of the volunteers who filled its ranks, so many of who made the supreme sacrifice.

An account of the heroic fighting ability of one of the first Territorial Force battalions ordered to France and the first to see action in World War I. For two centuries the officers and men of the London Scottish have faithfully served their country, never more so than during the terrible years of the Great War. Initially with the 1st Guards Brigade, and later with the 56th (London) Division, the 1st Battalion was so committed to the prosecution of its cause that by November 1918 its numbers included only three survivors of the original Battle of Messines. The Second Battalion saw action in campaigns as diverse as France and Flanders, Ireland, the Balkans, and Palestine where it won two Victoria Crosses. The London Scottish in the Great War does not set out to recite the oft-told famous battles fought and won. Rather it employs a wealth of previously unpublished war journals, diaries, and photographs to provide a unique insight into this most auspicious Regiment. It demonstrates as no history of the London Scottish has before the hopes, sufferings, and aspirations of the volunteers who filled its ranks, so many of who made the supreme sacrifice.

The shared experiences and sacrifices of Scots in London in World War One - often untold stories and unseen pictures illustrate this fascinating new account.

Foreword by His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales Hospital ships filled the harbour of Le Havre as the 75th Mississauga Battalion arrived on 13 August 1916. Those soldiers who survived would spend almost three years in a tiny corner of northeastern France and northwestern Belgium (Flanders), where many of their comrades still lie. And they would serve in many of the most horrific battles of that long, bloody conflict—Saint Eloi, the Somme, Arras, Vimy, Hill 70, Lens, Passchendaele, Amiens, Drocourt-Quéant, Canal du Nord, Cambrai, and Valenciennes. This book tells the story of the 75th Battalion (later the Toronto Scottish Regiment) and the five thousand men who formed it—most from Toronto—from all walks of life. They included professionals, university graduates, white- and blue-collar workers, labourers, and the unemployed, some illiterate. They left a comfortable existence in the prosperous, strongly pro-British provincial capital for life in the trenches of France and Flanders. Tommy Church, mayor of Toronto from 1915 to 1921, sought to include his city’s name in the unit’s name because of the many city officials and local residents who served in it. Three years later Church accepted the 75th’s now heavily emblazoned colours for safekeeping at City Hall from Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Harbottle, who returned with his bloodied but successful survivors. The author pulls no punches in recounting their labours, triumphs, and travails. Timothy J. Stewart undertook exhaustive research for this first-ever history of the 75th, drawing from archival sources (focusing on critical decisions by Brigadier Victor Oldum, General Officer Commanding 11th Brigade), diaries, letters, newspaper accounts, and interviews.

This volume emerged from an international research colloquium jointly organised by National Museums Scotland and the Scottish Centre for Diaspora Studies, University of Edinburgh, funded by the Scottish Government and administered by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Historians and museum curators from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa were invited to join with their Scottish counterparts to consider the functioning, and the meaning, of 'military Scottishness' in different Commonwealth countries and in Britain from the late Victorian period to the present day, with a particular focus on the impact of the First World War. Another key objective was to throw light on the 'hidden' culture of social networking which potentially operated behind local regiments and military units amongst Scotland's global diaspora. This edited collection provides a comparative overview of the nineteenth century emergence of military Scottishness and explores how the construction and performance of Scottish military identity has evolved in different Commonwealth countries over the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In particular, it looks at the ways in which Scottish volunteer regiments in Commonwealth countries variously sought to draw upon, align themselves with or, at certain key moments, redefine the assertions of martial identity which Highland regiments represented.

This is the first truly definitive history of the First World War, the war that has done most to shape the twentieth century. The first generation of its historians had access to only a limited range of sources, and their focus was primarily on military events. More recent approaches have embraced cultural, diplomatic, economic, and social history. In Hew Strachan's authoritative and readable history these fresh perspectives are incorporated with the military and strategic narrative. The result is an account that breaks the bounds of national preoccupations to become both global and comparative. To Arms, the first of three volumes in this magisterial study, examines not only the causes of the war and its opening clashes on land and sea, but also the ideas that underpinned it, and the motivations of the people who supported it. It provides full and pioneering accounts of the war's finances, of the war in Africa, and of the Central Powers' bid to widen the war outside Europe.