Iolaire - 97 years on




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Lewismen in Canadian service

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I have compiled a new website , entitled as per header of this post. It shows information on 134 men from the Isle of Lewis who entered military service during the First World War as part of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. They fought on the Western Front in Belgium and France. You may remember my main tribute site for WW1 casualties from Lewis, Faces from the Lewis War Memorial .  I have extracted those men who are marked as Canadians , and tracked down their details on the website of Library & Archives Canada . LAC have scanned the attestation (registration) forms of all 600,000 Canadian men who volunteered or were drafted into service during WW1. Apart from those that died, I am also tracing the 420 Lewismen who served as Canadians, but survived. It is startling to see the rate of volunteering dropping off during 1916, and compulsory military service being introduced in 1917. This leads to men absconding after being served their papers, being arrested a...
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Opium

It was reported over the weekend that a 3 metres (10 feet) tall statue, depicting a bunch of opium poppies, is to be put up at Lews Castle. This to signify the Castle's historical link to the 19th century opium trade, through which its builder, Sir James Matheson, made his fortune. I find the idea faintly odious, because the opium trade that Matheson worked was actually designed to get the Chinese people hooked on the addictive substance that opium is. Made from the sap of Papaver somniferum , opium contains nearly two dozen different substances, all related to morphine - which is highly addictive. When the Chinese government tried to ban the import of opium from India (on British ships), Matheson got the British government to wage a war on China to counteract their prohibition.  This Sunday, I visited Sandwick Cemetery, about a mile east of Stornoway, to photograph a tombstone. One of the names on it was Capt D Mcdonald, who was lost in the China Sea. Upon adding the picture to th...
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No coincidence - Rosières

Rosières-en-Santerre was (once more) the location of heavy fighting in August 1918, according to CWGC's record for this location. All three Lewismen buried in the Communal Cemetery extension were serving with the 2nd Canadian Division and died on 9th, 10th and 11th August 1918, i.e. in the same battle. They had all joined the Canadian forces from British Columbia, two of them voluntarily, one under the military draft. 2137501 Pte Angus Norman Murray (aged 34), 17 South Dell, husband of Edith Murray 29th Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment) Enlisted at Victoria BC in October 1917; resident of Portland, Oregon, USA Date of death: 9 August 1918 Grave I. C. 10 2021278 Pte John Macphail , (aged 30), 11 North Bragar, son of Angus and Annie Macphail 72nd Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment) Drafted in at Trail BC in January 1918 Date of death: 10 August 1918 Grave III. A. 26 77635 Sgt Alex John Morrison (aged 30), 13 East Street, Sandwick, son of John and Catherine 16th...
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