Steel and Tartan (eBook)

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PREPARING FOR WAR, AUGUST 1914 – FEBRUARY 1915

On 3 August 1914 the German Army swept through Belgium, Luxembourg and northern France with the aim of encircling Paris before moving their conquering armies across Germany to fight Russia on their eastern borders. This attack on neutral Belgium prompted the British government to declare war on Germany and prepare to despatch the British Expeditionary Force for service in France. As soon as war was declared, the government sent word to the units of the Territorial Force to mobilise for war.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ewan Campbell ordered that the eight companies of the 4th Camerons, who were spread all over the Highlands and Islands, muster in Inverness. On 5 August the five companies from Inverness, Nairn, Beauly and Kingussie went by train to Fortrose before marching to Cromarty, where their wartime posting was to man the coastal defences. The Portree, Broadford and Fort William companies joined up with the rest of the battalion on 7 August, having waited for the call to arms at their drill halls.

A list of the officers of the battalion in the early days of training was published in the Historical Records of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders:4

Two thirds of the officers were Gaelic speaking, which was roughly the same proportion as the men, possibly the highest percentage in any battalion in the British Army. The majority of the officers were firmly middle class with a large number being made up of members of the legal and teaching professions. In the end, several of the battalion’s officers who mobilised in August 1914 would not serve in France; Captain William MacKintosh of Glenurquhart was left in Inverness as the officer commanding the Cameron Territorial Force Depot and Captain James H. Leigh was employed training recruits at the base. Others such as Captain Roderick MacLean and Lieutenants Peter Cram, A.J. Mackintosh and Murdo Mackenzie were ordered, in September 1914, to recruit and organise a second line unit, the 2/4th Cameron Highlanders5 to take on the home defence duties of the 1/4th if they were sent to France.

At Cromarty the 4th Cameron Highlanders spent most of their time digging trenches during the day and camping in the open fields during the night, only once or twice having to be turned out of their tents to defend their camp. Every instance was a false alarm. The first casualty of war occurred that week when an unnamed soldier sustained an unfortunate injury when he sat in a pan of boiling fat!

On 11 August, the battalion returned to Inverness to join up with the 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions of the Seaforth Highlanders with whom they were brigaded in the Seaforth and Cameron Brigade of the Highland Division. The Regimental Journal, The 79th News, reported that 6000 troops were concentrated in Inverness at this time, taking over all the available accommodation. The following day, Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell paraded the battalion in Bell’s Park and after a stirring speech asked for volunteers for service abroad. Over 80 per cent of the men volunteered to fight in France. When the deductions in manpower for those who did not volunteer for overseas service, those who were too young and those who were deemed medically unfit were taken into consideration, the 4th Cameron Highlanders stood at a strength of 600–700 men. It became clear that more recruits would be needed to send the battalion abroad at anything close to its full fighting complement of over 1000 men. This recruiting would have to be done away from their Highland home as, on 15 August, the Highland Division was ordered to their new training area at Bedford. The Bedfordshire Times and Independent reported the arrival of the Highland Division on 21 August 1914:

The Highland Territorials arrived in Bedford on Saturday and received a very hearty welcome from the townsfolk. At an early hour the southern side of the town presented an animated scene. The soldiers who had had a long and trying journey appreciated to the full the cups of hot cocoa generously provided by the people in the Southend District and wherever they were billeted.6

The 4th Cameron Highlanders and their colleagues in the Seaforth and Cameron Brigade were allocated billets in the district between Kimbolton Road and Bromham Road, some men settling in the grammar and high schools. Bedford High School was converted into the 4th Camerons’ headquarters and can be seen in a photograph of the officers before their departure to France.

The Inverness Courier of 13 October described how the townsfolk of Bedford embraced their Highland visitors, accommodating them in their houses and serving them hot coffee and cocoa as soon as they stepped off the train. The paper also told of the diversions available to the men; the local pubs closed their doors at 8.00pm, but the men were also entertained by concerts, boating on the river and walking the promenades, while the officers were made honorary members of the local libraries and clubs. Some of the men even went to the trouble of learning French!

In the opening two weeks of the war over 100 men volunteered for service with the 4th Cameron Highlanders at either their central depot in Inverness or the Company depots in their local towns. However, still more were needed, so brothers Lieutenant Ian MacKay and 2nd Lieutenant William MacKay were sent to the headquarters of the London Scottish Regiment in the capital which was being inundated with volunteers of Scottish origin who wished to join Highland regiments. Approximately 250 new soldiers were recruited this way between 4 and 11 September 1914. These London Scots would be subject to particularly heavy losses when the battalion finally made it to France, with one in every five being killed within a year.

The new recruits had to sign Army Form E.624 stating their agreement to serve at any place outside the United Kingdom in times of emergency. In recognition of this agreement, the soldiers were entitled to wear an Imperial Service Badge on the right breast of their tunic.

One of the men who volunteered in September 1914 was Max Alexander Roemmele. He had been born in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, in 1892 to German immigrant parents Carl Hugo Roemmele, an iron merchant from Stuttgart, and his wife Amelia Bost. In order to join the 4th Camerons, Roemmele travelled from Glasgow to Inverness and enlisted at the depot as Private Number 2223. On his return to Glasgow, proudly sporting his new uniform, his neighbours promptly reported him to the police as a German spy. Luckily, nothing came of it and Private Roemmele travelled to Bedford with the rest of the 4th Cameron Highlanders. While there, he applied for a commission in the battalion, which was accepted on 25 February 1915 and he served as an officer with distinction throughout the 1915 campaign.

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