I think my grandfather was in the 4th Battalion, during WW1, please help !

[ROBY]

I had a few basic facts regarding my grandfather from my uncle
1) Name, Robert Davidson Nicolson from Dundee.
2) He finished in the 4/5 battalion, Black Watch
3) He was a territorial before the war started

From this I assumed that he started the war in either the 4 or the 5 territorial battalions
The 5 ( Dundee and Angus ) landed in France in Nov 1914.
The 4 ( City of Dundee ) landed in France in Feb 26 1915.

I have found what I believe is his Medals Index Card, see attached :-

On the card it says that he joined the French theatre on 24th Feb.
I know that the 4 left Dundee on the 23rd Feb, and arrived in Le Havre on the 26th,
do you agree that this was probably him ?

I cant seem to find his Service card, Maybe it is one of the 60% lost in the Kew bombing ?

ServiceRecord.jpg

[ROBY]

Is it possible that i can find out which company my granfather was in,
because i believe that the 4th had 4 companies, A,B,C & D ?
The reason why i would like to know is that in A.G.Wauchopes book on the 4th
( A history of the black watch in the great war, 2nd Vol, the territorials ),
he gives details of the movements of the named companies.

[Chalky]

Is it possible that i can find out which company my granfather was in,
because i believe that the 4th had 4 companies, A,B,C & D ?
The reason why i would like to know is that in A.G.Wauchopes book on the 4th
( A history of the black watch in the great war, 2nd Vol, the territorials ),
he gives details of the movements of the named companies.

There is a wee bit of history on the site in the link.

http://www.blackwatch.50megs.com/index2.html

and also here http://www.fdca.org.uk/Loos01.html

here https://www.greatwardundee.com/at-th...t/dundees-own/

and a book here https://abertay.org.uk/product/a-cit...h-dundees-own/

[myway]

Thanks for this post Chalky,some wonderful info, Bill...

[ROBY]

Chalky thanks for that

[nemesis]

He was one of the original 4th men to go to France. This is confirmed by his date of entry 24/2/15 on the medal index card.

[Deeko]

I cant seem to find his Service card, Maybe it is one of the 60% lost in the Kew bombing ?

In my experience the Black Watch records fared as bad as any regiments in the fire, and worse than many.

He enlisted in around the 8th of May 1911 and was discharged under 392 XXI (Expiry of terms of engagement). That means he completed what he'd signed up to serve.
Many men like him re-enlisted later or were conscripted after discharge. There's no sign this happened in your grandads case.

Cheers,
Derek.