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22
quintinshill rail disaster
A NEW ALLIANCE
On 21 September, 1/7RS’s War Diary recorded that
‘25 Newfoundlers
and one Officer joined for instruction’.
This is the first recorded meeting
between The Royal Scots and what was to become one of our allied
Regiments,The Royal Newfoundland Regiment.Newfoundland was an
independent Dominion until it joined with Canada in 1949. Its ‘army’
therefore served within British formations rather than Canadian ones
during WorldWar I.
On 4 November, again as a result of falling numbers in both
Battalions, 1/7RS formed a composite Battalion
‘for tactical purposes’
with 1/4RS, to be named 7RS, which remained until the end of the
campaign and until it reached Egypt after the withdrawal.
On 15 November the Battalion successfully attacked and held
a Turkish trench to their front, with very low casualties. This was
subsequently held against a counter-attack,earning the congratulations
of the Corps Commander.
The weather deteriorated rapidly from that point with heavy rain
and snow flooding trenches and dugouts, the former becoming canals
forcing men to stand precariously on the narrow fire-steps and risking
becoming targets for snipers. One particularly violent storm, with
hurricane force winds, rain, sleet and snow, swept the Peninsula from
26–28 November destroying the piers and lighters on the beaches
upon which the Force was entirely dependent for its supplies. This only
strengthened the arguments for abandoning the campaign, a decision
which followed in December.
7RS remained in the line to the very end, being the last unit of
52
(Lowland)
Division to leave Gallipoli at 3am on 9 January 1916,
sailing on the Battleship HMS Prince George to Mudros. In contrast
to the failure of so many operations during the campaign, notably the
failure to push rapidly forward from the initial landings on 25April, the
withdrawal was a brilliant success with the whole force slipping away
unnoticed and without casualties.