| Charles Bulloch |
| This page is dedicated to my grandfather who fought in the Great War at Gallipoli. He was wounded twice. His experiences caused him to die before the age of sixty, as he predicted. He is seated on the front row, second from the right. The guns are 0.303" Vickers machine guns. The links below connect you to some Great War web sites.. |
   |
| We have a postcard in the family which is a studio photograph of a fine looking soldier in full highland dress. On the back it says; Alexander Buchanan 8th HLI Killed in action 2?th June 1915 Gallipoli Using the links above, I have found out that my grandfather's second regiment, 1/7 Royal Scots suffered heavily at Gully Ravine on 28/6/1915. We assume he fought in this battle. In October 1915 there were winter storms which caused much hardship. In December there was a great blizzard and thaw which caused 10% casualties. We believe my grandfather's health was affected by this, apparently at Salonika. On the way to Gallipoli, the train carrying A and D Companies 1/7 Royal Scots crashed at Quintinhill with great loss of life. My grandfather was on the other train. Click here. Just yesterday (17/06/02) a freight train crashed there. What we don't know, is how my grandfather started off in the 8th HLI, but finished up in the 2nd Garrison Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, at Sollum, Egypt, as in the photo above. Note the bomb-burst cap badges. His army record was probably destroyed in the Blitz. Clicking the Gretna crash eventually takes you to Gallipoli. |
| Battle at Gully Ravine |
| Starting on 28th of June, (When Alexander Buchanan died?) the Allies gained a tactical success at Gully Ravine on Cape Helles. Some enemy trenches were taken. The Allies were very short of artillery and ammunition. So the 156th Brigade of the 52nd (Lowland) Division, my Grandfather's, attacked without artillery. While they reached the enemy lines, it was a disaster. The Brigade commander was killed bringing up the reserves. Another typical Great War slaughter. My grandfather lost his friend and was shot in the arm and bayonetted in the back, but we don't have any detail on this. The British lost 3,800 men, the Turks 14,000. |
| The quality of the original photographs is sublime. Detail is well above modern 35mm photography. They will be contact prints. Thomas Brown is from a digital source, the others are near 100 year old originals. The sepia toning ensures permanence. Contact printing ensures the complete elimination of lens abberations and diffraction at the printing stage. I will work on better pictures. Please print them out. The picture of Old Nat and Jean has had the contrast enhanced. |
 |
 |