George Wilson was born in Edinburgh on 29 April 1886 and joined the army as a private. He was a small man in stature and the war wore him out and he never fully recovered. The Lord Provost of Edinburgh discovered that he was not at all well and offered him employment on a farm in order to build up his health and strength. He also arranged for him to work with the Edinburgh Corporation. Despite this assistance Wilson’s life continued to be burdensome. He became dependent on alcohol and in order to raise extra cash he tried to pawn his VC for £5 which was then the equivalent of two weeks’ wages. Local shopkeepers were sympathetic to the ‘fallen hero’. He used to live in an area called The Close, which was a small alley of tenements off the Lawnmarket in the poorer part of Edinburgh. ‘Lawn’ was a type of fine fabric made from flax. The site has been replaced with student residences.
Wilson died a few days short of his fortieth birthday on 22 April 1926 at Craigleith Hospital (now the Royal Victoria). He became another victim of the First World War, only seven years after it came to an end. Craigleith Hospital at that time was a tuberculosis (TB) hospital. George Wilson was buried at Piershill Cemetery, Edinburgh, on 25 April with full military honours, consisting of a single piper and a small bearer party. The comparative lack of ceremony prompted a spate of letters in the Scottish Press. Thanks to the generosity of a Mrs Mary Fairbairn, Wilson’s previously unmarked grave now has a memorial stone.
He was the first Edinburgh man to gain the VC in the First World War and it was the highlight of an otherwise tragic life.
His medals are held by the Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum.
R. TOLLERTON
Aisne, France, 14 September
On 8 September the 1st Cameron Highlanders had been involved in the forcing of Le Petit Morin as their contribution to the counter-offensive in the Battle of the Marne. They had replaced the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers in the 1st (Guards) Brigade in the 1st Division. The Munsters had virtually been annihilated at Etreux during a rearguard action on 27 August.
A few days later on 14 September the Cameron Highlanders were heavily involved in the Battle of the Aisne. Their day began at Paissy where they had breakfast at 04.00 hours before moving off through Moulins and into the village of Vendresse from which they advanced uphill in a north-easterly direction to their battle positions. The 1st Black Watch was to their right and the 1st Scots Guards to their left. Behind the three battalions was the 1st Coldstream Guards, at Vendresse, who advanced later.
The aim of the 1st (Guards) Brigade was to fight its way to the Chemin des Dames, the main highway which ran parallel to the Aisne Valley and which dominated it. Once captured the Allies would have command of the country between Berry-au-Bac to the east and Soissons to the west. At this time the ridge was held by the Germans. The brigade was supported to the right by 2nd Brigade who were to be heavily involved in the fight for possession of the sugar factory at Troyon. The factory was just south of Cerny crossroads and was nearer the latter than Troyon. The ruins of the factory can still be seen today. Troyon itself was merely a small hamlet and today is little more than a collection of farm buildings. The village of Chivy was to the south-west of the 1st (Guards) Brigade’s position.
The morning of 14 September was very wet and misty. The enemy endeavoured to push back the British 2nd Brigade at the sugar factory, and in doing so they managed to expose the right flank of the 1st Cameron Highlanders upon which the Germans concentrated a withering machine-gun fire. This resulted in losses of 600 officers and men. No. 7281 Pte. Ross Tollerton had been in a reserve position and advanced with part of B Company under Lt. Matheson in support of A Company. They managed to reach the three haystacks which are frequently mentioned in accounts of the action, to the south of Troyon and attacked in a north-westerly direction. Shell and machine-gun fire was very heavy.
Matheson was now in control of his platoon and of a large section of A Company. But in the act of getting up off the soft ground he was shot and fell flat on his face. He could not move and was nearly suffocated because his nose pressed down into the mud. He signalled to Tollerton to move him onto his back but this was not possible. The Private had words with L. Sgt. Geddes who helped to get the officer onto Tollerton’s back, although he was shot dead through the head in doing so. Tollerton, who was over 6 foot in height, then carried the officer back to a place of safety. He later returned to the fighting but was soon wounded in the hand and head. The order to retire was given and Tollerton returned to Lt. Matheson’s side to try and carry him back to the British lines.
The enemy, however, surrounded them and Tollerton had to bide his time until he had the opportunity to carry the wounded officer to safety. It was three days before Tollerton thought it safe enough to move when he saw the Germans retreating. During this time shells had been continually whistling overhead and Matheson was hit once more by a shrapnel bullet. His main wounds were now in his head and back. During this time the two men had enough water but quickly ran out of food and all Tollerton could find when searching bodies nearby were cigarettes. A short time later he saw some British soldiers digging a trench and made contact with them. They arranged for a stretcher to be brought for the officer while Tollerton was directed to a dressing station.
The records of the Cameron Highlanders describe where the incident took place in the following way: ‘Half B and part of C Companies crossed the eastern part of the Chivy Valley and moved northwards up on to the small spur which divides it from the western branch …’
It was on this small Chivy Valley spur that Matheson was wounded. His wounds were dressed in the village of Chivy but by this time he was very weak and it soon became clear that his spinal cord was badly damaged. His clothes were cut from his body and he was subsequently put into a French ambulance and transported by train to Paris where he was admitted to an American hospital.
A few days later the 1st Cameron Highlanders moved up to relieve the Black Watch in the trenches to the west of the village of Beaulne. A shell hit the top of the cave in a quarry where Battalion Headquarters was situated and buried the staff. A couple of the men were rescued but the shelling was too heavy for a prompt rescue attempt and it was not until evening that a party of Royal Engineers was able to dig out the bodies. Five officers were killed including Capt. Miers, the acting Commanding Officer, Capt. A.G. Cameron of Lochiel, Lt. N. Cameron and Lt. Meiklejohn. Meanwhile, seventeen officers had become casualties on the 14th. In addition thirty other ranks were killed in the Battalion HQ disaster.
Pte. Tollerton was invalided home and returned to Irvine to recover from his wounds – one in the hand caused by a bullet and another on his scalp on the crown of the head. He had lain wounded for a day and a night before being sent to a dressing station. Seven months later on 19 April his VC was gazetted for saving Matheson’s life. The decoration was presented to the kilted Highlander by the King at a ceremony attended by 50,000 people on Glasgow Green in Scotland on 18 May 1915.
Tollerton continued to serve in the regiment until the war ended in November 1918, by which time he had been made up to sergeant. When he came back to Irvine by train, a horse and landau awaited him to take him to the local landmark named the Cross. However, such was the enthusiasm of the crowd that they unhitched the horse and a willing band of volunteers hauled the carriage together with its passenger up the hill.
Ross Tollerton was born in Hurlford, Ayr, Scotland on 6 May 1890. While still a child he moved to Irvine and was educated at Laurieknowe Primary School and Maxwelltown School. The name was changed when the new school, Maxwelltown High School, was built.
Tollerton was the son of James Tollerton, a sergeant in the police, and brother of R.S.M. Jas. Tollerton, also of the 1st Cameron Highlanders. He enlisted in 1905 and served with the regiment for seven years. In 1906 he was sent to South Africa and later served in Hong Kong, North China and India. In 1912 he was placed on reserve and worked in the Irvine Shipyard. On 26 December 1913 he married Agnes Muir. He was recalled at the outbreak of war in August 1
914, and posted to the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. In May 1915 he visited Montgomery School, Irvine, which he might have attended along with Harry Ranken who also gained the VC on the Aisne. The children were delighted at the visit and even more delighted with a half-day holiday off from their studies. Then Tollerton took part in a recruiting campaign in Glasgow on 31 August 1915.
When he was demobilized Tollerton joined a Territorial unit, the Irvine Company of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, becoming its company sergeant major. Later he worked as janitor at Bank Street School, and after his death it was alleged that his ghost used to haunt the school buildings. The school was subsequently demolished and houses built on the site.
About 2,000 men from the town of Irvine served in the First World War and 238 of them died. When the town war memorial was unveiled in April 1921 Tollerton laid the first wreath.
In 1930 he became ill and died on 7 May 1931 after an illness that lasted several months. It is certain that his war experiences contributed to his premature death at the age of forty-one. At the time of his death his home address was No. 15 High Street, Irvine. His military funeral took place on 9 May where a bearer party, a firing party, pipers and buglers were supplied by the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Many wreaths were laid, including one from Maj. J.S.M. Matheson, the man whose life Tollerton had saved sixteen years previously. The funeral took place at Knadgerhill Cemetery and was a very impressive affair. The pavements from Irvine High Street to the cemetery were crowded with the sad townspeople. The coffin, covered with a Union Jack, was taken on a gun carriage to the cemetery with the boy pipers playing ‘The Land O’ the Leal’. Tollerton’s father then aged seventy-eight also took part in the procession. Tollerton’s grave is cared for by the CWGC.
One obituary described Tollerton as having a fine military carriage as well as exceptional strength. In addition he was friendly, sociable and very modest.
On 11 September 1932 a memorial was unveiled to his memory at Knadgerhill Cemetery when, despite severe stormy weather, over 3,000 people turned out for the ceremony. Brig. Gen. J.W. Walker gave the address. The memorial was erected by the British Legion and the people of Irvine, and took the form of a rustic obelisk of silver-grey Creetown granite. The Tollerton family, including Ross’s widow who wore her late husband’s medals, was present at the ceremony. Wreaths were laid and a firing party was supplied by the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Apart from the VC Tollerton had also been awarded the 1914 Star (with clasp), the BWM and the VM. Agnes died in 1939 and her husband’s VC medals were then bequeathed to his brother Alexander. After Alexander’s death, his widow presented them to the regiment and they are now on display at the Highlanders’ Museum.
Maj. J.S.M. Matheson of Alchany, Lairg, Sutherlandshire, where he was a prominent landowner, died in February 1933, less than two years after Tollerton. He had obtained his commission in the Cameronians in 1900 and served in the South African War. His medals included the Queen’s Medal and five clasps.
The town of Irvine also became associated with another man who won the VC early in the First World War. This was Capt. H.S. Ranken RAMC, son of the local minister. Both Tollerton and Ranken are commemorated locally with streets named Tollerton Drive and Ranken Drive. Tollerton Drive consists of council houses close to playing fields but today although some of the houses have well-tended gardens, many houses are boarded up. This part of the town was built to receive overspill from the slums of Glasgow.
E.G. HORLOCK
Vendresse, France, 15 September
On 14 September the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division was sent by the divisional commander to support the left flank of the 1st (Guards) Brigade. In mid-morning it found itself on the eastern flank of the German 25th Reserve Infantry Brigade. The enemy was pushing in a south-easterly direction towards the village of Vendresse, between the small hamlets of Chivy and Troyon. The early morning mist was lifting and the 46th and 113th artillery batteries unlimbered to the south-west of Vendresse, close to the village of Moussy, in a quarry where there were several batteries already in position. The artillery opened fire with deadly effect. The range was about 900 yards and considerable slaughter was inflicted upon the enemy. Not surprisingly the German advance was checked and two machine guns were damaged and eventually captured. The 2nd Welch Regiment and 1st South Wales Borderers of the 3rd Brigade 1st Division were thus clear to attack the enemy in a north-westerly direction. It was during this fighting that Pte. Fuller gained the Victoria Cross when attempting to save the life of Capt. Mark Haggard (see earlier chapter). The weather had been very wet and misty and the British had to fight an enemy who concentrated hard on pushing the British back to the River Aisne.
The next day, 15 September, witnessed a series of savage German counter-attacks. It was on that day that No. 42617 Bombardier Ernest George Horlock, a member of the 113th Battery of XXV Brigade RFA won the VC for his gallantry under heavy shellfire. Despite being wounded he returned twice to lay his gun, after having his wounds dressed, although he had been ordered by the Medical Officer to go to hospital. By the end of the day the British line had been consolidated but the positions of the 4th and 5th Divisions were still precarious.
Two days later Horlock was promoted to the rank of sergeant by the general officer commanding 1st Division for ‘gallantry in the field’. The Royal Artillery Institution has some notes on the life and career of Bombardier Horlock, which were published in the book The Victoria Cross 1856–1920 where Horlock’s name is spelt Harlock. The following account was written by a colleague:
We were in action in an open field, and it was hot, I can tell you. Jack Johnsons and shrapnel. When a Jack Johnson burst in the ground there was a shrapnel shell burst overhead simultaneously and they kept on coming. Then one burst right under Horlock’s gun, and that shell fell in two, clean, and killed No. 1. Horlock got splinters in his right thigh, not severe, you know, just enough to keep him in hospital for two or three weeks; so he went to the dressing station, and the doctor dressed him and told him to go in the ambulance and go to hospital. Well, Horlock goes outside, but he doesn’t look for any ambulance, but comes back to the battery. Hang me, he hadn’t been there five minutes before he got hit in the back. Down he walked once more to the dressing station, and the doctor wanted to know why he hadn’t gone to hospital. Horlock says he couldn’t see the ambulance; so when he was dressed the doctor puts him in charge of an orderly, and says that as he was able to walk to his battery, he can … well walk to the hospital. So the pair set out, but Horlock pointed out to the orderly that the doctor seemed ‘narked’ and that there were plenty of men who wanted the orderly’s attention more than he did, and if the orderly went back to the dressing station he could find his way all right. The orderly agreed about it, but says to Horlock, ‘No jokes, mind, or you’ll get me into trouble. You go straight to the hospital.’ Horlock said, ‘Good morning,’ and then changed the doctor’s words around, and thought if he could … walk to the hospital he could just as easily go back to the old 113th. So back he came again, and he hadn’t been with us five minutes before he got some splinters in his arms. It was rotten luck, and he was afraid to go back to the doctor again, so he just stayed there till he went out of action in the evening. Some of our officers saw the doctor that night and told him about Horlock, and then they had him down and reprimanded him. But I think that they had their tongues in their cheeks when they did it …
Horlock’s VC was gazetted on 25 November and he was presented with it by the King at General Headquarters at St Omer in France on 3 December. He was awarded his sergeant’s stripes on the same occasion, and these became known as the King’s Stripes.
The Royal Regiment of Artillery had a tremendous record in the early months of the war and the infantry came to have considerable faith in their gunner colleagues. Horlock was one of eight artillerymen to gain the VC within a short space of three weeks in 1914.
In August 1915 Horlock returned to his home in Langrish in Hampshire and was given a very enthusiastic re
ception both in Langrish and in Petersfield, a nearby larger town. At Petersfield station he was met by his family and by members of the Urban Council and was driven to his home in a motor car. The next day he was driven in a decorated motor car with his parents from their home in Langrish and met by members of the local council together with members of the Horlock family. He took his seat in an open carriage and the whole procession moved off to the Square. There was a bugle band and many local organizations took part. The Guard of Honour was supplied by members of the local police force, and a gaily decorated truck had been drawn up into which Horlock and his parents were ushered as it was to serve as a platform. Horlock’s war record was then read out to the cheering crowd and a purse containing £20 was presented to the local hero. Horlock thanked the Chairman of the Urban Council for his kind gift and used the occasion to drum up support for the war effort. The procession then re-formed and the Horlock carriage was taken to Langrish where it drew up at the local post office. This time the local Vicar, the Revd H.L. Bashford, made a long speech of welcome to which Horlock replied. The proceedings ended with the National Anthem. A few days later Horlock was given another official reception in East Meon, a nearby village, where a presentation took place in the grounds of the local vicarage. This time the soldier and his family were installed on a wagonette and taken to a platform which had been especially erected. Lord and Lady Peel took part along with the deputy vicar. Lord Peel made a stirring speech praising Horlock and his deeds and mentioned the local contribution to the war effort. Horlock was then asked to step forward for a presentation. His gift was a gold signet ring which had been subscribed to by the local inhabitants. The outside of the ring was inscribed EM, which stood for East Meon, and on the inside the inscription was E.G. Horlock, 113th Battery, RFA, VC. The ring was placed on Horlock’s wedding finger. Before the ceremony finished a reference was made to the fact that there were still some young men in the village who ought to join up.
VCs of the First World War 1914 Page 13