Secret Black Watch war diaries are opened after almost a century
ByMark Mackay
Archivist Richard McKenzie examines the letter written about the Battle of Sammara where the Baghdad Bell was captured.
Incredible details of life and death in Scotland’s most famous military regiment have been uncovered after lying sealed and unread for almost a century.
The sacrifice of thousands of young Scots who served with The Black Watch during the First World War is laid bare in hundreds of pages of letters, diaries and memoirs.
They were written by Lieutenant Colonel John Stewart, who led the regiment’s 2nd Battalion in bloody conflict across the Middle East.
Under his command the battalion battled Turkish forces and seized Baghdad. During three years in what was then Mesopotamia, he kept stunningly detailed records of the action seen by his men and wrote weekly to his family.
They were opened for the first time by archivist Richard McKenzie and his team who have been left astonished by the rich detail within.
The information will now be pored over and conserved in the coming months before it can be viewed by the public.
The museum, which re-opened last year following a £3 million renovation, hopes they will soon form part of the exhibits and offer a stunning new insight into The Black Watch.
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Secret Black Watch war diaries are opened after almost a century
