Robert Wotherspoon

Robert arrived in France on the 20/09/1915. In December 1915 the Battalion moved to Mesopotamia landing in Basra on the 31/12/1915. The formation was by now renamed the 21st Indian Brigade, 7th Indian Division. Robert was 1 of 75 men of the Battalion who fell on the 21/01/1916 at the Attack on Hanna, 21/01/1916 : Having occupied a series of trenches in front of the Turkish lines on 19th January, the next day saw the attacking Battalions, including the 2nd Black Watch, only some 200 yards from the Turkish trenches. The British artillery opened up a barrage on the 20th which continued throughout the day and the following morning. Just how ineffective this barrage was, using weapons some of which dated back to 1873, is proved a few days after the attack when, during a temporary truce to clear the battlefield, a Turkish officer mentioned with contempt the power of the British artillery. At seven minutes past eight on the morning of the 21st the 2nd Black Watch surged forward from their trenches towards the Turkish lines, just as the artillery barrage lifted. With their usual mixture of bravery and stubbornness the 2nd Battalion did manage to take the Turkish trenches to their front, despite enduring a hail of bullets as they advanced. The Black Watch found themselves isolated and exposed in their captured trench. The Turks, who had initially fled to their second line trenches in the face of The Black Watch assault, soon realised just how few troops were facing them and two counter attacks, one to the left and one to the right of the 2nd Black Watch, began to develop. These were kept at bay for a while by a small number of machine guns that had been captured from the enemy. However sheer weight of numbers soon began to tell, and gradually the defending soldiers of The Black Watch found themselves being squeezed tighter and tighter into a small part of the captured trench. See Newspaper clippings from family concerned about Robert who had been missing for 5 months. The Basra Memorial commemorates more than 40,500 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the operations in Mesopotamia from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921 and whose graves are not known. The memorial was designed by Edward Warren and unveiled by Sir Gilbert Clayton on the 27th March 1929. See photos for Robert's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clippings x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration, his Pension Records x 3, his name on the Basra Memorial, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) Cap Badge, the CWGC Basra Memorial Roll of Honour x 3, Robert's name in the CWGC Basra Memorial Roll of Honour.