Lonesome Memorials #15: Memorial to McCrae's Battalion, Somme Battlefield

 

The newest of our Lonesome Memorials was installed in November 2004 at the village of Contalmaison on the Somme battlefield. It's a 10-ft-high cairn (def: pile of stones, used as a marker or a memorial) that commemorates the remarkable battalion of Lt. Col. Sir George McCrae, the 16th Royal Scots, who captured the village on 1 July 1916.

The 16th (Service) Battalion (2nd Edinburgh) of the Royal Scots was raised in Edinburgh in November 1914 by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George McCrae, a respected Liberal Member of Parliament for East Edinburgh and a volunteer soldier. 

While the battalion featured a strong contingent of volunteers from Heart of Midlothian Football Club, there were also professionals from clubs such as Falkirk, Hibernian, Raith Rovers, Dunfermline, East Fife, and St Bernard’s. In total, it is believed around 75 football clubs provided volunteers.

Sir George McCrae

Theb moved to France in January 1916 and, still under the command of Sir George, were committed into their first major battle at Contalmaison, on the Somme, on 1 July, where, fighting alongside their sister battalion, 15th Royal Scots, they were the only units in the 34th Division to achieve their initial objective—but at a terrible cost of 472 killed, wounded, or missing over only three days.

The battalion continued fighting in the Battles of the Bazentin Ridge and Pozières Ridge at the Somme,  as well as during the 1917 Arras Offensive and Third Battle of Ypres. The unit absorbed such heavy casualties in these battles that it was disbanded in 1918 before the Armistice.

The cairn features four plaques, with its main relief incorporating the cap badge of the Royal Scots, the coat of arms of Edinburgh, the emblem of the 34th Division, a cartoon by D.M. Sutherland, and finally, an image of Sir George McCrae himself. The first supporting plaque is dedicated to Heart of Midlothian, while the second is in memory of the 16th Royal Scots’ sister, the 15th Royal Scots. Finally there is an expression of gratitude to the local French population on its reverse.

Directions:

From Albert take the Menin Road (D929) to the LaBoisselle turn to D20 and proceed about 2 miles to Contalmaison. The memorial is close to the main crossroads of the village.