Book forms a roll of honour for South Ronaldsay’s victims of two world wars
(from The Orcadian dated December 20, 2001)

Lance Corporal Archibald Sinclair served with the 219th Company Machine Gun Corps. He was from Myres of Grimness.

The news that every parent dreads occurred for the first time in South Ronaldsay on December 1, 1914. A young man - their son - had been killed in action.

Three more died later the next year, then another six in 1916. Three in 1917 and during 1918 - the final year of the war – 14 South Ronaldsay men fell foul of the gas, bullets and shells of the enemy.

The war ended and servicemen began the journey home to try and settle back into civilian life.

War memorials were built and are dotted throughout the county, but despite the promises of those left behind, never to forget, as each generation ages it is easy to forget who the men were.

Mission

Each name is not just a name but was a living person.

South Ronaldsay man George Esson has spent the past 15 months on a mission – a mission to record the lives of those servicemen whose names are etched in stone.

He has put together an account of their short lives entitled For Freedom & Honour which will be available shortly. His book is dedicated to the men and boys of South Ronaldsay who went away to war and did not return.

“This would certainly have been easier 15 or 20 years ago when there were still survivors of the 1914-18 war alive who knew the men and perhaps had served and fought with them,” Mr Esson said.

“On the other hand, in recent years many books have been published on the different battles and campaigns. The internet has also been a good source of information.”

Local families were helpful, loaning photos and letters, while in many instances it was by sheer good fortune that he was able to get hold of pictures.

The book came about after Mr Esson read a letter in The Orcadian several years ago. The letter was appealing for people in all Orkney’s parishes to gather information on those who died during the two world wars and those named on the war memorials.

Omitted

Private William Esson – a distant cousin of the author George Esson – of the 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders from Brandyquoy in South Ronaldsay.

In addition to the 27 names which appear on the memorial from World War One, there is one that does not. He was a 17-year-old boy from St Margaret’s Hope who served with the Mercantile Marine Reserve on board HMS Imperieuse and he died on March 17, 1918. He was deckhand Alexander Brown and was buried in the North Churchyard in a grave marked with a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.

It is not known why his name was omitted from the memorial, but could have simply been at the request of the family, Mr Esson explained.

The Seaforth Highlanders were for many years regarded as being “Orkney’s Regiment”. They recruited locally with vigour and many young Orcadians joined the regiment.

Responded

In this feature we hope to give you a glimpse of some of the lives of the men who perished, but there are too many to detail each and every one.

Young William Cumming looked up at the poster and read “Your King and Country Needs You”. He responded to the famous plea and poster with pointing finger by Lord Kitchener and joined the army.

Prior to enlisting, William worked on one of Robert Garden’s floating shops.

The son of James and Robina of Bayview, Sandwick, William served with the 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, 44th Brigade, 15th Scottish Division.

They left for France on July 7, 1915, and made their way to the front line, gaining experience of trench warfare and death on the way. At the Battle of Loos on Saturday, September 25, 1915, they saw their first major action.

Early that morning the British Army released chlorine gas and less than an hour later the main assault began. The use of the gas did not go as planned and in parts of the front line the gas moved slowly over to the enemy positions, causing panic in the German trenches. In other parts it hung around in “no man’s land” and some of it blew back into the British trenches.

Private Robert Gunn of the Seaforth Highlanders was killed in action on May 3, 1916, aged 23.

Objectives

The young men had to advance over flat, open ground without any cover. They were at the mercy of the enemy machine guns. But they had been given their tasks; to capture the enemy, capture Loos Village, advance on to Hill 70 and occupy Cite St Auguste.

Many men died in front of the enemy trenches, but by 8.45am they had carried out their objectives.

William survived those battles, which claimed more than 700 lives – but he died only a couple of weeks later from wounds received on Hill 70. He is buried in Grave 7A, Row C, Plot 3 Etaples Military Cemetery, France.

Private William Esson – a distant cousin of George Esson – died of wounds in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) on August 1, 1916.

At that time, the 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders were held in divisional reserve after a spell in the trenches. The men had been fighting and living in very difficult conditions with temperatures as high as 122F, and at times 116F in the tents.

Diseases

With that kind of heat there was little movement by either side and many men were reporting sickness, heat stroke, dysentery and other tropical diseases.

The conditions were not good for Private Esson. Hospital and rest camps were poorly equipped. letters from home were irregular and leave was just about non-existent.

The campaign in Iraq cost the British Empire nearly 15,000 men in action, nearly 13,000 from disease, 52,000 wounded and nearly 13,500 missing or prisoners of the Turkish Army.

Private William Esson was buried in Grave 16, Row H, Plot 22, Amara War Cemetery.

The second South Ronaldsay man to die in the area of Loos, France, was Private Robert Gunn, who served with the 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders.

Private William Duncan of 25th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers died on March 21, 1918. He was from Cleat in South Ronaldsay.

Exploded

His home was at Herston and his parents were James and Christine.

He had been in France for a year and had been home on leave at the New Year. By April they were back on the front line and faced the 3rd Bavarian Division across “No Man’s Land”. Between 5am and 6 am on the morning of April 27, the Germans released gas and exploded two mines under the British trenches. Another two mines were exploded on May 1 and 5. Private Gunn lost his life on May 3, 1916, aged 23.

Letters from officers of the regiment to his parents were published in The Orcadian at the time of his death.

The captain of Private Gunn’s company wrote: “I was greatly grieved when your son was killed by a trench mortar on the night of May 3, 1916. It was during a small bombing attack made by my company.

“Your son was doing excellent work, he was indeed one of the best bombers in my company and was selected for a difficult piece of work. He was an excellent fighter and you have much to be proud of.”

Died fighting

Second Lt Duncan also wrote: “I must also write you and offer my deepest sympathy to you in your affliction. The sorrow of a mother’s heart is too profound for an understanding, but it may lighten the weight of the sorrow to know that your son died fighting.”

He continued: “He lies near the spot where he fell fighting, his grave marked with a simple wooden cross which marks a warrior’s grave.”

The body of Private Robert Henderson was the only one from South Ronaldsay to be buried at home following World War One. He died in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Southampton, on July 17, 1918, aged 20 from wounds received in France.

Private William MacDonald of Moss of Cletts served with the 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders.

He was with the 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders and his wounds were reported in this newspaper on September 22, 1917.

The 4th Seaforths arrived in France on November 6, 1914. Their first major action was on March 10 at Neuve Chapelle where they suffered 168 casualties. From then they eventually fought in the last phase of the Battle of the Somme.

The 4th Seaforths were out of the line from August 8-29 so it is likely he was wounded sometime after. Shelling by both sides went on continually and men who were at some distance from the front line were killed.

Dreadful affair

Private William MacDonald was involved in what was described as a “dreadful affair. A fine battalion totally destroyed”.

Serving with the 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, it seems as though MacDonald was almost sent to his death by his own commanders.

During April 1917, they were in position to the west of the village of Fampoux when they were ordered to attack chemical works between the village and Roeux.

However, the target was well defended and the enemy soldiers were well aware of what was happening.

They had little chance and were mown down when trying to cross an open area of ground.

It is thought that Private MacDonald died from wounds received during that attack. The Highlanders suffered 375 casualties from the 432 who took part in the assault.

Corporal James Dunnett of 258 Army Troops Company of the Royal Engineers from Cletts, Eastside in South Ronaldsay.

A Second Lieutenant of the Seaforths wrote of the slaughter: “It was a total disgrace that the powers that be could order such an attack in full daylight against such defences. We had no chance at all and I lost many good friends that day. I had only gone about 200 yards before I was shot through the chest. I am sorry, but I cannot talk about it any more.”

Casualties

Lance Corporal John MacKenzie was the first soldier belonging to South Ronaldsay to lose his life in the war.

He was a volunteer soldier and married to Catherine Cumming with two children.

He was part of the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders who were stationed at Plymouth at the outbreak of war. It was not long before they found themselves at Boulogne and in November in the trenches.

The Battalion war diary for December 1 reads: “Strength of Battalion 8 officers 459 other ranks. Trenches very wet. Casualties 1 man killed and 3 wounded.” It appears from this that L-Cpl John MacKenzie must have been the only fatality that day.

Engineer John Simpson was born in January, 1890, to John and Helen Simpson, who ran a seed and general merchants business in the ‘Hope.

He was a third engineer on board the Clan MacPherson, employed as a Government ship, transporting military stores, landing troops and guns.

Most voyages were between the UK and the Middle East, with the occasional trip to the Far East and America.

Her last voyage was from Gibraltar to Boston, and Portland in Maine for a cargo of grain and flour for Malta. The return trip was safely made and the cargo unloaded. The ship left Malta for Bizerta in Tunisia where, on March 4, 1918, she joined a convoy bound for Colón.

Torpedoed

The night was dark and stormy and at around 10pm, when 24 miles north of Cape Serrat, the Clan MacPherson was torpedoed by the German submarine UC27.

Some did survive, but John Simpson was not one of them. He is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London.

On September 3, 1939, Britain found itself at war with Germany once again. It was to last until May 7, 1945, when Germany surrendered unconditionally.

Men and women returned to “Civvy Street” having lost six years of their lives. But World War Two had taken the life itself from ten South Ronaldsay men.

We have left out many of their stories which you will be able to read about in the book, which should be available in local bookshops early next year.

Private John Marwick lost his life during the last action fought by his division during the last week of the war. Before emigrating to New Zealand his home was at Serrigar. He was hit by a bullet and died instantly.

“I have found it a terribly interesting thing to do and the longer it went on the more interesting it got,” Mr Esson said. “I even felt like I almost knew them.”

It is Mr Esson’s hope now that his book will spur others on to investigating their own war memorials, to put together a record of those who should not be forgotten.

“I think it is a great thing for somebody to do in other parishes,” he said.

Roll of Honour

The young South Ronaldsay men who died during World War One were: L-Cpl William Cumming; Pte William Dass; Pte Magnus Dearness; Pte William Esson; Pte Robert Gunn; Pte Robert Henderson; Pte William MacDonald; Pte John Annal; L-Cpl John MacKenzie; Pte John Cormack; Cpl William Petrie; Sgt Joseph Thomson; Csm Magnus Norquoy; Pte William Duncan; L-Cpl Archibald Sinclair; Pte Richard Spence; Gnr William Bruce; Gnr James Sutherland; Cpl James Dunnett; Pte Donald Norquoy; Pte John Marwick; Pte Robert Sutherland; Pte Gilbert O. Thomson; Pte William Cromarty; DKH John Brown; DKH John Thomson; Eng John Simpson. Ten others from the area died during active service between 1939 and 1945. They were – Pte John Doull; Seaman John Gunn; Seaman Magnus Henderson; Sgt Robert Mathieson; Leading Seaman James Russell; 2nd officer William Rosie; Seaman Walter Sinclair; driver David Sinclair; Captain Andrew Thomson and Seaman William Rosie.