William Forsyth was born on 2nd August 1888 at Stewart Place, Bearsden – unfortunately the birth record does not record a property number. This map is from 1896 but shows Stewart Place is now called New Kirk Road:
His father, also William, was a bank clerk and he had married Jessie Stronach in 1885.
By 1891 the family (parents plus their children Alfred (older brother), William and Annie (younger sister)) lived at Lossie Cottage, Bearsden; at the time, the style was not to include a road name. By tracking the name through successive records, we can deduce that it is now 39 Roman Road:
The house name may be explained because William (father) was born in Lossiemouth; Jessie was also from the Moray area.
By the 1901 Census they were at the same address but with one more daughter, Janet:
Note that William is referred to by his family name of Willie.
Unusually, a memory of him as a boy is available online (link):
Willie and his brother, Alfred, were described by Janie Ramsay Stuart as “very high spirited” as children and “full of bright ideas and pranks” trying to make her laugh at family worship on holidays. She said they became fine men.
His father: “Memorizing of hymns and Psalms to be recited at family worship. He “knew his Lord” according to his grand niece, Janie Ramsay Stuart.” He was in charge of his church’s mission work for years.
Aged 22, Willie appears in the 1911 Census living in Sheerness, Kent, working as an engine fitter in the Government (Royal Navy) Dockyard.
He may have returned to Scotland before 1914 and been in business in Greenock. He was also active in the YMCA.
When war was declared in August 1914 he joined up, initially as a despatch rider, but later as an infantry officer.
By 1915 he was in France as a 2nd Lieutenant (the most junior officer rank) in the 6th Battalion, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. They landed at Boulogne on 2nd May and on the 16th May they became part of 152 Brigade (originally The Highland Brigade) in the 51st (Highland) Division.
Here is a photo of him from around this time:
Willie wrote a letter to his brother, dated 17th August, which was subsequently published in the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald (3rd September 1915):
Dear Alfred
Your very welcome letter duly arrived a few days ago, and I can tell you, old boy, I am glad to hear from you and that my letters home reached there safely … Yes, I suppose everybody is interested in letters from the front, which give something more interesting, as a rule, than do the cold and formal official bulletins and communiques, such as “There has been renewed activity in the ——- region, and all attempts to pierce our lines have been repulsed.” The public want to know how it was done and who did it? Was it the Highland Brigade? Or, who was it?
Now, it stands to reason that wherever the Highland Division goes, there is trouble. This is a sloid fact. Every part of the line where we have been has previously been quiet, but down comes the great Highland Division and fun begins. We harass the Huns day and night, give them no peace, no time to sit in their dug-outs and listen to gramophone records of ‘Die Wacht am Rhein’. ‘Hymn of Hate’, etc., played on stolen instruments.
Gradually things get lively, and in a few days you read in your newspaper at breakfast or in the 8:23 “There has been renewed activity in the ——-.”
The part of the front where I have just spent 12 days was very quiet when we took it over, and had been for months, being held by the French. By the time we left the trenches, things were decidedly ‘warm’ and the Germans were using trench mortars and heavy artillery to some tune every day. Their range was quite out of it, but the noise was terrific while it lasted.
The trench mortars especially made a ‘dickens of a row’. These mortars are only used for close range, and throw a bomb fairly high in the air. One can generally see it coming sailing over an dodge where it is likely to land, so there is usually time to dodge them by making a ‘bolt for it’ round a ‘traverse’ or into a ‘dug-out’. It makes a great explosion and a large hole in the ground, but it is fortunately not often they land in the trench, as it is a very difficult matter to get the exact range. They usually send over three or four of them and then stop. However, some of us like them; but when our trench mortar starts to say a few words in reply, and our big guns begin to speak – well – it’s just like music in our ears, for we have the satisfaction of seeing our gunners getting the range to a yard. We could easily see the effect of the shells bursting on their parapet. Apparently we have splendid gun positions, and have the advantage in this respect … “Highland Division to the front! Scotland for ever!” And the next morning the papers say “There has been renewed activity in the ——-“!
Well we left these scenes of ‘activity’ on Friday evening, and are now enjoying the more peaceful scenes of country life in a small French village about 10 miles behind the firing line. We had a hefty march. When I started out with my platoon we were in great form, and whenever we got beyond earshot of the German trenches the ‘boys’ sang and whistled their favourite songs both loud and long. I am in charge of No. 7 Platoon and I can tell you they are a cheery lot. Even in the trenches they sang quite a lot when seated in their snug dug-outs lit up by a spluttering candle. They are said to be the cheeriest platoon in the Company. A good tough, hard lot they are, and are never down-hearted. However, ‘it’s a poor heart that never rejoices’ and most of us were in a genial state of mind at the prospect of a few days’ rest; but the last three miles fairly knocked the enthusiasm out of us, the whistling died away, singing ceased, for the warblers were weary. The ‘packs’ which we shouldered so lightly at 11p.m. became a burden – my own was fairly heavy, and I felt I was hodging a hillside on my back. In addition, I had two heavy haversacks, so by the time we reached our destination few of us were feeling ‘chirpy’.
Fortunately the night was a cool one and dark. However, about 3a.m. we left the main road, and some buildings came into view. This was our destination, and we were a weary battalion as we trudged through the little village street in the grey light of dawn. The advanced party had hot tea ready for the men, which was very welcome.
After this was served out, we billeted our men in small empty cottages, and then got quite comfy. This is a beautiful spot, far beyond the sullen roar of guns. Everything is quiet, and there is little to remind one of the grim struggle which is waged day and night but a few miles away, except the hum of a passing aeroplane far up in the blue, or when darkness falls, the occasional rumble of waggons and artillery as they pass over the cobbled village street on their way to the front.
We are having perfect summer weather. Every day is beautiful, and we are having a very good time. I am writing this seated behind the house where we have our Company mess. There is a bonny wee garden filled with flowers, and further back a small orchard where we rest in the shade of the apple trees when the sun is too warm, and where we retire after lunch for a ‘siesta’.
Most of us would be glad to prolong our stay, but ‘orders are orders’, and we expect to renew acquaintances with the Germans on Sunday, when we return for a further spell of ‘renewed activity’. During our short stay here we have an abundance of fairly good food and any amount of fruit, pears, greengages, melons, etc. The melons are A.1, but the only objection to them is that they make one’s ears sticky.
Well, I will have to curtail my letter, as I have been busy today and the mail is going out. — Love to all,
Your affectionate brother.
Second-Lieutenant WM Forsyth
1/6th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
Life would have continued in this way for the next seven months, with several days in the front line, then rest and working behind the British lines such as carrying equipment or building roads. Obviously, the colder weather of winter would have made life more difficult. Willie may have had some home leave, walking or being driven to a railway, train to a port, a ship, then the train to Glasgow.
By March 1916, Willie and his platoon were stationed just north of Arras in a sector known as The Labyrinth:
Credit for this map to Jack Sheldon via The Great War Forum website (link): he explains that this map does not come “anywhere near to showing the total bewildering complexity of the area which was derived originally from the German siege tactics used during late 1914 and early 1915 to try to advance the line: endless sapping forward at an angle, followed by the production of T saps and parallels. This, coupled with constant destructive French shelling which kept wrecking the work, meant that ever more trenches had to be dug in an attempt to achieve the siege objective – hence the Labyrinth of trenches and other earthworks.”
This is an approximate modern view aligning to the map above with the area of the Labyrinth in the red circle:
And here is a similar view, retaining the red circle, but with more context:
This shows the location just north of modern Arras.
Frustrated by static trench warfare, both sides began to dig deep into the chalk under their feet with mine-tunnels running out to under the enemy lines. The end was then filled with explosive, it was sealed in and then detonated with the aim of literally blowing a hole in the enemy line. Tunnelling was very common in this sector in 1915 and 1916 with several mines being detonated per week.
In the sector held by William’s battalion two mines were detonated by the Germans at 3.40am on 31st March 1916. Fortunately the distance to the main British frontline had been under-estimated and they went off near the British saps (which were trenches dug out from the frontline into No Man’s Land).
The Germans attacked immediately after the explosions and in the darkness there was desperate fighting at close quarters. The battalion war diary records that two men were subsequently awarded the Military Cross for bravery and four won a Distinguished Conduct Medal, with another man ‘mentioned in despatches’. The Curator of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum, Rod Mackenzie, has checked this and found two of the DCMs were actually Military Medals. Unfortunately the medal citations (a brief account of why they were awarded) have either not survived or do not add to our overall understanding of what happened.
Amidst all this, William was wounded and it was recognised to be serious. He was evacuated to either the 30th or 42nd Casualty Clearing Station at Aubigny-en-Artois about 10 kilometres behind the frontline. However, he died the next day, 1st April 1916.
He is buried at Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension:
On his headstone, his parents chose the words, “Faithful unto Death Rev 2.10”.
Unusually, we have a photo of a medal awarded to William posthumously, the 1914-1915 Star:
Photo credit to this website.