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The Overall Contribution of Scottish Military Personnel. The Big Picture. Official estimates put the losses amongst Scottish soldiers at 73, 000. This figure is likely to be a considerable underestimate because it doesn’t necessarily include- - those who simply disappeared
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The Big Picture • Official estimates put the losses amongst Scottish soldiers at 73, 000. This figure is likely to be a considerable underestimate because it doesn’t necessarily include- - those who simply disappeared - those who died of wounds later -it is based on the method of assuming that Scots were 10% of the British population and this figure is 10% of British casualties. This figure also may include those who were listed as killed, but turned up later.
The Scottish National War Memorial • This contains the names of 148,218 of those who served in all branches of the armed forces, “killed in the service of the Crown” but is likely to be an overestimate as it includes those who served in Scottish regiments and died wearing Scottish uniforms, but were not necessarily Scots themselves. • The more commonly accepted figure is 100,000, though this, too, is likely to be an underestimate, according to Trevor Royle. • Tom Devine states that of the 557,000 Scots who enlisted in all services, 26.4% lost their lives, though Trevor Royle also disputes both these figures.
The Scottish Regiments • The Royal Scots lost 11,213 dead, most or whom came from Edinburgh and the east of Scotland. • The Black Watch and Highland Light Infantry each lost c. 10,000 men. • The Gordon Highlanders lost c. 9,000 men. • The 9th Scottish Division sustained losses of over 52,000 by the end of the war. • The 15th Scottish Division had lost over 45,000 men by the time they were stood down at the end of hostilities.
The city of Glasgow lost 18,000 men – 1 in 57 of its population. • The death toll in Dundee was 4,213 out of a population of 180,000. • Of the 13,568 men who volunteered from the universities, 2,026 were killed on active service. • Of the 6,712 men from the Isle of Lewis who served, nearly 1,000 would fall on the battlefield, disappear or drown before the guns fell silent. Many bodies were never found or identified, so memorials in France and Belgium list the names of the missing.
The Western Isles • Western Isles population in 1911-46,732 • UK population in 1911-40,831,000 • Western Isles losses in WW1- 1,797 • UK losses in WW1-908,371 • % loss in Western Isles-3.843 • % loss in UK-2.225
Tolsta • Tolsta is a small district on the Isle of Lewis. It is north of Stornoway on the eastern coast of the island and in 1914 its primary industry was fishing. • In the census on 1911, the population of Tolsta was 853, of which 400 were male. • By the Armistice, 11/11/18, Tolsta had sent 231 of its men to war. 41 were killed and never returned to this tiny community.
Elsewhere… • Every community, geographical, social or professional, suffered losses in the Great War • 11 of the Heart of Midlothian team who joined the 16th Royal Scots were killed, several on the first day of the Somme. • A total of 30 Scottish rugby internationalists were killed, the highest casualty rate amongst the home nations. • Pte John Scott of the Scots Greys, from Eddleston, was killed while displaying “conspicuous bravery” according to his C.O.
The Aftermath • Even for those who survived the war itself, many continued to suffer both physically and psychologically afterwards and many experienced early deaths as a direct or indirect result of their wartime experiences. • Jimmy Crawford of McCrae’s 16th Royal Scots was wounded in the hip near Contalmaison. He died of septic poisoning in March 1919. He was only 21. • Ralph Armstrong, also of McCrae’s, was wounded in the face in 1916 and never recovered. He died insane in July 1925. • At least 17 suicides have been identified amongst McCrae’s veterans in the 30 years after the war. There were probably more.
