First Generation

1. James MCCATHIE was born on 4 Oct 1891 in Mansfield, Leslie, Fife, Scotland. He appeared in the census in 1901 in Leslie - Allan Street. He served in the military between 10 Sep 1914 and 30 in France. James' service no. was S/5180, he was awarded the following medals during WW1

The 1914-15 Star was awarded for service in France between 1914-15

The British War Medal for service abroad during 1914 - 1918

The Victory Medal awarded to military and civilian personnel who served in a theatre of war

The Silver War Badge for retirement or discharge due to sickness or wounds caused by war service. James was discharged "no longer physically fit for service"

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In WWI the Germans called the soldiers of the Black Watch "The Ladies from Hell"

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The Territorials

By the end of 1914 the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th "Service Battalions" had been raised in Scotland. The 8th Battalion arrived in France in May 1915 , the 9th Battalion in July. Both fought at the Great Battle of Loos, but suffered heavy casualties.
The 10th Battalion spent almost the entire war in Salonika in a forgotten, tedious conflict where British, French and Serbian Armies faced Austrian and Bulgarian trenches. When at last it was posted to France it was broken up and divided among the other Black Watch Battalions which were always desperately short of men.

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10th (Service) Battalion Formed at Perth, 13 September 1914, as part of K3. September 1914 : attached to 77th Brigade, 26th Division. July 1918 : left the Division and moved to France, landing Taranto (Italy) on 7 July 1918. 21 July 1918 : attached to 197th Brigade, 66th Division. 15 October 1918 : disbanded in France.


The 26th Division


Summary history of the division

The last Division to be formed for the Third New Army (K3), it began to assemble in the Salisbury Plain area from September 1914. Khaki uniform and equipment were not made available until February-April 1915, and in the meantime eveything was imrovised. Embarkation for France began in September 1915, and the concentration of units at Guignemicourt (west of Amiens) was completed before the end of the month. However, the Division was not destined to remain on the Western Front, because in November 1915 it moved to Salonika , where it then remained. On 2 November, the Division concentrated at Fleselles and moved via Marseilles. On 26 December 1915, units began to move from Lembet to Happy Valley Camp, and all units were in place there by 8 February 1916. The Division took part in the following actions in Salonika:

10-18 August 1916: the Battle of Horseshoe Hill
24-25 April and 8-9 May 1917: the Battle of Doiran


Order of Battle
77th Brigade


8th (Service) Bn, the Royal Scots Fusiliers (joined October 1914)
11th (Service) Bn, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (joined October 1914)
10th (Service) Bn, the Black Watch (joined September 1914, left 30 June 1918)
12th (Service) Bn, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (joined September 1914)
77th Machine Gun Company, MGC (joined 24 July 1916)
77th Trench Mortar Battery (joined 3 November 1916)
77th SAA Section Ammunition Column (joined 27 July1916)


The 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division

After suffering very heavy casualties during the Battles of the Somme (1918), the Division was first reduced to a training cadre (9 April to 18 September 1918) then reformed and reconstituted. During this period, many different units were attached for short periods. During this time, the Divisional artillery remained in action, and it did not rejoin the Division until 8 November 1918.

The Battle of Cambrai 1918

The Pursuit to the Selle

The Battle of the Selle


Order of Battle

197th Brigade (2nd Lancashire Fusiliers)

10th (Service) Bn, the Black Watch (joined July 1918, disbanded October 1918)

The Battle of the Selle - 17th - 25th October 1918

First Army

XXII Corps : 4th Division , 49th Division, 51st Division

Third Army

IV Corps : 5th Division, 37th Division, 42nd Division , and New Zealand Division
V Corps : 17th Division , 21st Division , 33rd Division , 38th Division

VI Corps : Guards Division , 2nd Division , 3rd Division , 62nd Division

XVII Corps : 19th Division, 61st Division

Fourth Army

IX Corps : 1st Division , 6th Division , 46th Division

XIII Corps : 18th Division , 25th Division, 50th Division, 66th Division

II American Corps : 27th and 30th American Division


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E-mail from Thomas B Smyth, Archivist with the Black Watch

S/5180 Pte James McCathie. Attested for The Black Watch, Kirkcaldy aged 23 years. There is no date given for the attestation, but the others on the page are between 7th and 11th September 1914.
Depot Roll Book, 1914 BWRA 0489.

The 10th Battalion was a Service Battalion which was raised as part of Kitchener's New Army at the Depot, Perth in September 1914.

The Battalion was based in Bristol and (from March 1915) Sutton Veny, near Warminster, Wiltshire. There is a Photograph Alum of the Battalion which was done at the latter place in August 1915. NB This was done by Platoon Groups and there is no individual identification.

The Battalion went to France on 21st September 1915 and was engaged in trench warfare until 11th November when the unit was posted to Salonika. Later the Battalion served in Macedonia near Lake Doiran.

The Battalion retuned to France on 6th July 1918 and was disbanded at Haudricourt on 12th October. Companies were sent to other Black Watch Battalions and other units.

The history of the Battalion has been written up in:-

A History of The Black Watch in the Great War Ed A G Wauchope.
London: Medici Society, 1925-26. 3 vols.

The 10th Battalion material is to be found in Vol III (New Army).

Service records for the First World War period are held on microfilm at the Public Record Office at Kew, London. NB These records were bombed during the Second World War and only 40% have survived.

As to the photograph - there are some uniform details which do not tally. The sporran, the glengarry (which he has in his right hand) appears to have dicing. The Black Watch Glengarry is plain black. The badges are indistinct. I would expect the sporran badge to be St Andrew & Cross - it looks like a thistle floral. The collar badges are too small to permit of identification. The form of dress is "Walking Out Dress." He is carrying a cane. He is wearing the full ceremonial dress - doublet, fly plaid (on left shoulder), kilt, hair sporran, white spats. In 1914, when he enlisted, a simpler form of khaki dress had been introduced.

He died in 1965 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. Served in 10th Battalion, Black Watch