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Pte. Alexander Gemmell
British Army 326 Seige Battery Royal Garrison Arillery
from:Letterfinlay, Invergloy, Spean Bridge
This is the story of my father - a soldier, like many others, because he had to be and would not have considered himself a hero in any way. However, also like many others, he did what was asked of him to the very best of his ability and Sandy was described by an officer as 'a capable and intelligent soldier'. Alex (Sandy) Gemmell was born on 10th July 1895 at Letterfinlay near Spean Bridge where his father, Andrew Gemmell worked as a sheep manager and gamekeeper, but who also had a croft in the nearby township of Stronaba. As a youngster Sandy spent a lot of time on the hill helping his father and also becoming a good shot with the gun. He, with his siblings, was educated at Glenfintaig School at Invergloy which was a one teacher school. He walked the three miles there and back each day.
As he had gained employment as a railway surfaceman on the Invergarry and Fort Augustus railway when WWI broke out he was exempted from military service because of his occupation. He was attested and placed in the Army Reserve on 23rd February 1916 giving his year of birth as 1894 when in fact he was born in 1895. He used to laugh about this but I do not recall any explanation for his doing so. On 18th August 1917 he was mobilised to Royal Garrison Artillery Depot in Plymouth until 6th of September 1917 when he joined 495 Siege Battery RGA where he remained until he embarked from Southampton for France on 1st April 1918, arriving at Le Harve the next day. From there he was posted to 326 Siege Battery in the Field. On the 25th July 1917 he was granted Class 1 pay. On the 3rd of August 1918 he was sent to Corps Rest Camp before rejoining his unit 326 Siege Battery. On 21st February 1919 he was granted leave to UK and being four days late in reporting to his unit on return forfeited four days pay! Instead of returning on 7th March he did not report until the 11th. No reason was given and the evidence was apparently 'documentary'. Although the Armistice had been signed by this time and the war over, he was still on 'active service'.
Sandy was released from the army on 27th September 1919 and returned to his parent's croft at Stronaba resuming his occupation on the railway as before. He later transferred to The West Highland Line where he worked as a ganger on the permanent way along with his two brothers, Harry and George. Sandy married in 1932 and lived at 2 Railway Cottages close to the 90th milepost of the West Highland Line near Spean Bridge. In 1952 with his wife and daughter he moved to live in the village of Spean Bridge where he died very sudddenly on 17th February 1957. He was, in the post WW1 years a keen shinty player and played as goalkeeper for Spean Bridge. Extremely clever with his hands he made walking sticks and crooks, shinty sticks (camans), acted as barber to his friends and relatives. Not educated beyond 14 years of age he was nevertheless a man who was able to learn skills very quickly and to size up situations before taking any action required. Very knowledgeable about natural history and of local folklore he had a wicked sense of humour and often had a pertinent and witty comment to make. He died when I was 16 and I missed out on so much of his knowledge and wisdom by not knowing him when I was an adult. I have his RA spurs which were found rusting in an outhouse in his father's old croft about 20 years ago. He rarely spoke of the war and his experiences. On the occasions when he did it was in connection with the horses that formed part of his daily life in the army or of escapades he and his pals engaged in. In contrast to the experiences of so many, Sandy's war was relatively short and in the RGA he was usually some way behind the front lines. However it is interesting that in 1922 he acquired his medals so his experiences must have meant something to him more than he cared to admit.
