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5th (Queens Edinburgh Rifles) Battalion, Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)
5th (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Battalion, Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) was a unit of the Territorial Force with its HQ in Forrest Hill, Edinburgh with the Lothian Brigade, Scottish Coast Defences when war broke out in August 1914. On the 11th of March 1915 they transferred to 88th Brigade, 29th Division at Leamington Spa. They were training for France when orders arrived to prepare to depart for Gallipoli. They embarked from Avonmouth on the 20th of March 1915 sailing via Malta to Alexandria then on to Mudros in April. They landed at Cape Helles, Gallipoli on the 25 April 1915 and were involved in heavy fighting until the evacuation on the nights of the 7th and 8th of January 1916 when they returned to Egypt. In March they were sent to France, sailing to Marseilles, landing on the 10th of March and travelling by train to concentrate in the area east of Pont Remy by the end of March. On the 24th of April the 5th Royal Scots transferred to Lines of Communication and on the 15th of June 1916 they amalgamated with the 1/6th to become the 5/6th Battalion.
27th Apr 1915 Holding the Line
28th Apr 1915 Ground Gained
6th May 1915 In Action
7th May 1915 In Action
28th Jun 1915 British attack
28th Jun 1915 In Action
19th Aug 1915 Water Scarce
13th of April 1918 Under Heavy Attack 
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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Pte. John Christy 5th Btn. Royal Scots (d.28th Jun 1915) John Christy, aged 17, was s great uncle who died in Turkey. He is commemorated at Helles.
He was awarded a medal which is held by another family member. I have been looking into war history for my family.
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Pte. George Middlemas Brown 5th Battalion Royal Scots George Brown enlisted in the Royal Scots on the 2nd May 1912. During 1915 the Battalion was posted to Egypt for training for the Gallipoli landing. In 1915 the battalion landed in Gallipoli. George came through the campaign unscathed and the battalion left Gallipoli in December 1915. He was in France in 1916.
During 1916 he transferred from the Royal Scots to the Royal Flying Corp, as a Tinsmith. His service number was then 401779. He attained the rank of Leading Aircraftsman. He was discharged from the RAF on 11th of April 1919.
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Pte. William Irvine Dyce 5th Btn. Royal Scots (d.18th June 1915) William Dyce died on the 18th of June 1915, aged 19. He is buried in the Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey.
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Pte. George Ure Russell Downie 5th Btn. (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Royal Scots (d.7th May 1915) George Downie died on the 7th May 1915, aged 17. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey and was the son of Andrew and Elizabeth L. Munro Downie of 1 West Stanhope Place, Edinburgh.
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Cpl. Angus Mackay 1st/5th Btn. (Queens Edinburgh Rifles) Royal Scots (Lothian) Regiment (d.5th May 1917) Angus Mackay died as a POW on 5th May 1917, aged 21. Buried in the Niederzwehren Cemetery in Germany, he was the son of Alexander and Isabella Mackay, of Scullomie, Tongue, Lairg, Sutherland.
This soldier’s diary is published in the book Somewhere in Blood Soaked France by Alasdair Sutherland.
Six Mackay brothers fought in WW1. The family came from Scullomie, Scotland. George Mackay was awarded a DCM for valour. Sadly his brothers Angus (21 years), Donald (32 years) and Magnus Mackay (18 years) all died in WW1. Angus Mackay fought at Gallipoli, Ypres Salient and Le Somme. Out of the 5th Royal Scots Battalion of 800 fighting at Gallipoli, 100 survived. Angus was mortally wounded at Battle of Arras. Lest We Forget.
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Cpl. Angus Mackay 1/5th Btn.(Queens Edinburgh Rifles) Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) (d.5th May 1917) Angus Mackay served with the 1st/5th Battalion (Queens Edinburgh Rifles) Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) and then with the 88th Brigade Machine Gun Corp during WW1. He died on the 5th May 1917, aged 21. He is buried in Niederzwehren Cemetery in Germany. The cemetery was begun by the Germans in 1915 for the burial of prisoners of war who died at the local camp.
He was the son of Alexander and Isabella Mackay, of Scullomie, Tongue, Lairg, Sutherland.
This soldiers diary is published in the book Somewhere in Blood Soaked France by Alasdair Sutherland.
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Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
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Somewhere in Blood Soaked France Alasdair Sutherland
This book follows the life of a crofters son from the Highlands of Scotland to Edinburgh and beyond and is a very rare example of a Brave man who secretely kept a diary during his military service from the Campaigns in Dardenelles, Egypt, the Somme, Ypres and every other battle he fought in, most not as memorable and probably long forgotten but every bit as Bloody. Angus's diary gives a modest and unique version of events he lived through and also the horrific conditions which he had to face on a daily basis. The author Alasdair Sutherland paints a bigger picture of what really took place on those diary entry dates looking back in time to the battlefields filling in the detail and giving the diary more depth and perspective. This is a unique story brought to life by a very knowledgeable author who researched the subject in great detail.
Somewhere in Blood Soaked France Alasdair Sutherland
From the heat and dust of the Dardanelles to the mud of the Western Front, Corporal Angus Mackay had one constant companion, his diary. He wrote of the battles and campaigns he fought in, names that would go down in history: Gallipoli, the Somme, Ypres and Arras. Serving in the the 1st/5th Battalion (Queens Edinburgh Rifles) Royal Scots and later the 88th Brigade Machine Gun Corps, he left a record of one man's extraordinary and tragic war. In Somewhere in Blood Soaked France, Alasdair Sutherland reveals this previously unpublished account of the First World War, complete with historical context, orders of battle and extracts from official war diaries. This rare source - it was an offence to keep a record in a case of capture - offers a stirring insight into the bravery of Mackay and his companions, who were not afraid to die for their country. 'If I go under it will be in a good cause, so roll on the adventure.'
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