The Wartime Memories Project - The Great War

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The 2nd Battalion The Black Watch During World War I the 25 battalions of Black Watch fought mainly in France and Flanders, except for the 2nd Battalion which fought in Mesopotamia and Palestine, and the 10th Battalion which was in the Balkans. Only the 1st and 2nd battalions were regulars. The 1st Battalion was in action at the very start of the war taking part in the Retreat from Mons before turning on the Germans at the River Marne and the subsequent advance to the Aisne. Trench warfare then set in and the 2nd Battalion arrived from India, both battalions taking part in the Battle of Givenchy. In 1915 the 2nd, 4th and 5th Battalions were at Neuve Chapelle in March and a total of six battalions fought at Festubert in May where two Victoria Crosses were won by members of the Regiment. The 2nd Battalion was withdrawn from France in 1916 for operations against the Turks in Mesopotamia for the attempted relief of Kut-el-Amara?. Such was the urgency to get forward that the advance was made without proper preparation and heavy casualties were incurred. The losses at Shaikh Sa'ad were so heavy that the Battalion had to be merged temporarily with another Highland battalion which had suffered similarly. In 1917 the 2nd Battalion took part in the fight for Sannaiyat and in March had entered Baghdad before fighting across the desert to Mushaidie and then to Istabulat. There Private Melvin won the VC for single handedly overcoming a group of nine Turks. After the conclusion of operations in Mesopotamia the 2nd Battalion moved to Palestine in 1918 and took part in Allenby's successful action at Megiddo in September. Those known to have served with The 2nd Battalion, The Black Watch during The Great War Select a story link or scroll down to browse those stories hosted on this site. L/Cpl Albert Arthur Wykes 2nd Btn. (d.18th Jun 1917) Read his Story. L/Cpl Albert Arthur Wykes 2nd Btn. Black Watch (d.18th Jun 1917) Albert Wykes was a 2nd Cousin of my wife. It would appear he served in the Royal Field Artillery No 99081 and also the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) No s/10238. He is shown as having died from his wounds. Can anybody explain why he would have served in 3 different Regiments? I understand that some men who had been wounded or were unfit for Front Line Duty transferred to the Labour Corps, but I am unable to work out in which order he served in the RFA and the Royal Highlanders and how would a cockney come to be in the Black Watch, any suggestions please. Editor's Note: As Albert's record on CWGC shows him as being with the Black Watch, and transferred to the 13th Coy Labour Corps, it is reasonably safe to assume that he was with the Artillery as his first unit. It is quite common for men to serve with more than one unit, if injured and taken out of the front line for treatment, their place in the regiment would have to be filled by another man to maintain unit strength. On returning to duty they would be assigned to which ever unit required additional personne, so the regional identity of the regiments soon became muddled. Or a man with specialist skills might be transferred from one unit to another if there was a shortage of skilled men in another unit. The Labour Corps was largely made up of men who were not fully fit for front line fighting, so it is possible that Albert was injured or taken ill whilst with the Black Watch and transferred to the Labour Corps for a period of recovery.

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