Henry (Harry) McWhinnie

Henry was originally with the 10/11th (Service) Battalion Highland Light Infantry (25214). The 2nd Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers arrived at Zeebrugge on the 06/10/1914. They were part of the 90th Brigade, 30th Division when Henry was Killed in Action on the 2nd day of the Battle of St. Quentin the day before his 24th Birthday. This was phase of the First Battles of the Somme (the Offensive in Picardy), 1918 : 21st March - 5th April 1918 : After transferring very large forces from the now-collapsed Eastern Front, the German Army commits to a series of large-scale offensives. The first, Operation Michael, strikes the British Fifth and Third Armies. A deep advance is made and inflicts large losses, although the second phase, Operation Mars, at Arras on the 28th March, is soon held. In the crisis, the Allies decide at Doullens to appoint French General Foch as co-ordinator, and soon enough, as Generalissimo. Before enough French and British reserves are finally assembled to hold the German advance before it captures the critical railway junctions at Amiens. SEE PHOTOS x 23 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY JANUARY - MARCH 1918. On the 11th November 1917, the German High Command decided to make a decisive attack in the west in the following Spring. Their target was the destruction of the British Army. They believed that the British were exhausted by the four major efforts in 1917 (Arras, Messines, Passchendaele and Cambrai). By mid-February 1918, the Germans had moved many Divisions from the now collapsed Eastern front to the West. It was believed by British intelligence that the Germans now had 177 Divisions in France and Flanders, out of their world-wide total of 241. Of these, 110 were in the front line, of which 50 faced the relatively short but recently extended British front. A further 67 were in reserve, with 31 of these also facing the BEF. By late 1918, the manpower advantage enjoyed by Germany would be gone as the American forces slowly built up to strength. The time to strike was now: it would win the war; it was to be the "Kaiserschlacht" (Kaiser's Battle). Henry is also remembered on the Gartsherrie Works Roll of Honour (see photos x 3). See photos for Henry's Medal Index Card, his Birth Certificate, his sister Jane's Birth Certificate, his parents Marriage Certificate, his mother Elizabeth's Death Certificate, his father Alexander's Death Certificate, his sister Jane (Jeanie), Henry's CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Pozieres Memorial Panel List, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Roll, Henry's Pension Record x 3, the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge (his previous Regiment) and the Royal Scots Fusiliers Cap Badge. Finally, see photos x 14 for the 30th Division Order of Battle (the Division Henry was with when he fell), Henry's name on the Pozieres Memorial x 2, myself at the Pozieres Cemetery and Memorial in July 2023 and a Poppy placed by myself at Henry's name on the Pozieres Memorial in July 2023 x 2.