James Beatson - Private Beatsons war : life, death and hope on the Western Front : a diary of the Great War

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First published in Great Britain in 2009 by

PEN & SWORD MILITARY

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Limited

47 Church Street

Barnsley

S. Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright Shaun Springer and Stuart Humphreys, 2009

ISBN 978 1 84884 082 9

eISBN 9781844688302

The right of Shaun Springer and Stuart Humphreys to be identified as Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset in Ehrhardt by S L Menzies-Earl

Printed and bound in England by CPI

by CPI

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military, Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing and Front-Line Publishing

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact:

PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England.

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Contents

James Beatson (right) with his mother Elizabeth, brother Donald and sister Isabella; in all James had eight brothers and sisters.

Beatsons father John, in Royal Scots Pipe-Majors uniform.

Private James Nicol Beatson, No. 2024, 9th Royal Scots, probably taken in August 1914, aged 22.

Left Edinburgh two nights ago, the less I say of how I felt the better. I purpose [intend] keeping a rough record of the future days so that when I return, (may God grant it), I may the more faithfully recount them to you.
The first daily entry in Beatsons diary.

We know the stuff of which they are made, and the stock from whence they come, and are confident that they will distinguish themselves, and bear the name of old Scotland with glory. (Lord Rosebery). Officers of the 9th Royal Scots pictured at a training camp before the War in 1914.

Weeks of disappointment, rumours galore, kit inspections, and, worst of all, false farewells had made us bitter the always-never-going-battalion. (Anonymous Private in B Company). 9th Royal Scots resting during training exercises at Leith, 1914.

The boat was used before the outbreak of war as a cattle transport and the cattle have left a few keepsakes worse luck! The 9th Royal Scots aboard the requisitioned cargo ship HMT Inventor en route to France on 24 February 1915.

We had furries served out here We came across in a cattle boat, were fed on cattle biscuits, wore cattle coats. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders wearing their government issue fur jackets (furries) usually made from goat or sheepskin, 1915.

Im certain that Dickebusch is full of pro-Germans and that they give away information as the price of their safety. Dickebusch as Beatson would have known it, 1915.

We were relieved last night, dragged ourselves for eight miles to the little wooden hut at Vlamertinghe. The Belgian village of Vlamertinghe after heavy shelling.

A party of us went digging trenches today. 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers digging trenches north of the Menin Road, October 1914.

The roads are lined with tall trees. Dispatch riders on a typical tree-lined road near Dickebusch, 1914.

The streets are lined with the kind of building that is met throughout France cafs with seats in front. An old French lady serving coffee to British troops relaxing near Armentires, in 1916.

Nobody could be anything else but happy. 51st Highlanders.

A letter to Carrie and a note to her Dad ran me into nine pages, which relieved my mind a great deal.

The blankets havent been given us, so we retire thusly socks on, kilt loosened, jacket buttoned only at the waist, greatcoat turned upside down and legs slid into the sleeves. This leaves you to curl up and chew the mud off the foot of the coat.

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