Newtonmore War Memorial

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Magicfingers

Now that’s pretty, isn’t it?

This entry was posted in Highlands, Scotland, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty. Bookmark the permalink.

14 Responses to Newtonmore War Memorial

  1. Morag Lindsay Sutherland says:
    June 18, 2020 at 4:19 pm

    thank you for the sunny pictures as the haar comes in from the North Sea
    I always look out for this as we pass through on Scotrail heading south but it is not visible
    Newtonmore is off the A9 so we don’t pass through any more by car either but one of these days we must make the effort- it is not 100 miles away but feels like beyond reach these days

    Reply
    • Magicfingers says:
      June 18, 2020 at 4:34 pm

      We’re having a nice day down here now the rain has stopped. And you must visit Newtonmore, because I have just this minute posted a new post about the cemetery there. Well worth a visit, and then you can find the bloke I missed for me!! You will see what I mean when you read the post.

      Reply
      • Morag Sutherland says:
        June 18, 2020 at 7:18 pm

        I will look for Cattanach next time I am passing…. and will send you a picture. I will think if I know anyone in the area but not off the top of my head. It won’t be immediately though

        Reply
        • Magicfingers says:
          June 18, 2020 at 10:36 pm

          Bless you. As and when and no hurry at all – it’s taken me more than a year to even publish these pics. But I do wonder why I missed him.

          Reply
  2. Margaret Draycott says:
    June 19, 2020 at 1:32 am

    It surely is and in a prominent position. Another one of those with multiples of the same name, probably family members.
    Thought it was a while since your trip to Scotland, glad you got round to posting them.

    Reply
  3. Daisy in Indonesia says:
    June 19, 2020 at 11:42 am

    Stunningly beautiful and in a wonderful location. The views look superb, especially on such a lovely day. What a joy it must have been to visit Newtonmore.
    My Dad’s father was Scottish and his father was a Drummond and his mother was a McDonald. Many of those names on the memorial.
    There are 2 names mentioning Australia and I have just spent lots of time finding out who they were… I will explain on the Banchor Cemetery post.

    Love your work Magicfingers.

    Daisy

    Reply
  4. Daisy in Indonesia says:
    June 22, 2020 at 4:03 pm

    A wonderful group of posts lately Magicfingers, obviously matured nicely over the year since your sojourn through Scotland.

    In the Australian Army during WW1 there were 17 men named James Anderson killed with 6 of them dying on Gallipoli in 1915. The horrific bloody attack on the log covered Turkish trenches on 7 August claimed 3 of them with one buried at Aru Burnu Cemetery and the other 2 lost and remembered on the Lone Pine Memorial. There was one Lieutenant James Anderson killed on 22 August with the 18th AIF Battalion attack on Hill 60 where the Battalion was decimated and the Turks set fire to the brush to rid themselves of the stench of the bodies. He is also remembered on the Lone Pine memorial. A Sergeant James Anderson with the 5th AIF Battalion was killed on 26 April, the day after the landing but his body was never located and he too is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial. A Private James Anderson also belonged to the 5th AIF Battalion and he too died on 7 August but is buried in Shrapnel Valley Cemetery.

    Our James Anderson on the Newtonmore War Memorial was service number 772 and belonged to the 7th AIF Battalion and was 23 years old and a 5’4½” Law Clerk when he enlisted in Melbourne on 31 August 1914 not long after war was declared. He had 2 years experience with the Cameron Highlanders 4th Battalion in Scotland and his parents John and Mary ran the Anderson’s Hotel in Newtonmore. During James’ time in Cairo he spent 36 days in January 1915 in the VD hospital, not an uncommon occurence with men attracted to the strange sights and sounds of the Wazzir red-light district.

    The 7th AIF Battalion formed part of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st AIF Division and was in the 2nd wave of the landing at 5.30 am at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. For some reason their boats drifted north of the established disembarking area and came ashore opposite the Fisherman’s Hut where the Turks had a defensive position with machine guns and killed many men still in the boats. Some boats were seen to drift away full of dead and wounded men.

    Our James is shown as officially Killed in Action on 25 April and whether he escaped the carnage in the boats at Fisherman’s Hut or died during fighting on the heights is unknown. The 7th Battalion lost 5 officers and 179 men dead in the first week and it wasn’t until the 2nd May the Battalion was relieved and numbers of survivors could be counted. James could not be located and his records say he died sometime between 25 April and 2 May. My thoughts are his boat containing D company likely ground ashore later, just after daylight when the Turks were fully aware of their arrival and he perished during this onslaught with the machine guns. He is also remembered on the Lone Pine Memorial.

    On 7 August 1915 the 7th Battalion took over Lone Pine trenches won by the 1st AIF Brigade and withstood many Turkish counterattacks. Amazingly the 7th Battalion won 4 Victoria Crosses for Bravery this day out of a total of 7 VCs to Australians.

    The other Australian on the Newtonmore War Memorial is James Budge, a Railway Guard from Midland Junction in West Australia. James was born in Halkirk in Caithness, not far from John o’ Groats, far north Scotland. He was married to Jemima and was 34 years old and although physically fit didn’t enlist until 26 May 1916. James was number 5811 of the 27th AIF Battalion which was in the first wave of the Battle of Menin Road on 20 September 1917 as part of the 3rd attack of the Third Battle of Ypres in the salient in Belgium. He was reported missing but on 29 September was recorded as officially Killed in Action. James was initially ‘Buried End North of line of Pill Boxes West of remains of ruined houses and West of Pill Box Cemetery 2¼ miles East of Ypres’. In 1920 he was re-interred to Plot 3, Row J, Grave 1 at Perth Cemetery (China Wall) at West-Vlaanderen, 3 ks East of Ieper, containing 2796 graves in total.

    Please excuse this lengthy response but I’m glad to give the story of two Scottish Australians named James commemorated in Scotland…

    Reply
    • Morag Sutherland says:
      June 22, 2020 at 6:07 pm

      That is a FABULOUS response about Highland men fighting with AIF..I live in Brora about 70 miles from Halkirk! And 100 from Newtonmore. On our local Clyne war memorial we have Sgt William Dalton who us on Menin Gate. I have all his papers…..

      Reply
      • Daisy in Indonesia says:
        June 25, 2020 at 5:21 am

        Hello Morag,

        I hope you enjoyed reading the history of the two James’ as much as I enjoyed finding their stories…

        Another James Anderson I stumbled onto had a set of ‘magnificent’ bagpipes sent to his sister in Melbourne before he went into battle (premonition of death perhaps?) but they never arrived. There were many letters sent back and forth concerning the bagpipes and I found out the company Thomas Cook and Son handled dispatch of soldiers effects to relatives but the bagpipes were not located. There was no evidence to conclude they ever turned up…

        I Googled Brora and the village looks beautiful but I am very impressed with the Clock Tower War Memorial.

        Can you please tell me who is Sgt William Dalton? Another Scottish Australian?

        Reply
        • Morag Sutherland says:
          June 25, 2020 at 6:57 am

          Good morning. I am going golfing shortly so this will be brief
          Dalton was a Yorkshireman who met Isabella Matheson in Edinburgh and they got married . The emigrated pre war and then he enlisted. If you can email me ….ii can send you more information but she did come home with their daughter and I remember her….her mother unveiled the plaque at the impressive memorial because of scale of Matheson family loss. 2 sons 1 daughter and 1 sin in law

          Reply
          • Daisy in Indonesia says:
            June 25, 2020 at 1:46 pm

            Hello Magicfingers,

            Can you please connect me with Morag as above request?

            Thanks,
            Daisy.

    • Magicfingers says:
      June 23, 2020 at 12:09 am

      Thank you Daisy. Brilliant stuff. I have added a link from the second Newtonmore post to this post, because James Anderson is on a memorial in the cemetery, so people can find your excellent explanation above from there too. Very much appreciated.
      Perth Cemetery (China Wall): https://thebignote.com/2014/11/18/perth-cemetery-china-wall/

      Reply

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