John Morrison was born on 14 November 1885 at Inveravon, Banffshire in the Highlands of Scotland and was 29 years old when killed in action with the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch on 25 January 1915.
He was the fourth of a family of seven children born to his parents, John and Margaret, between the years 1882-1893. His father worked as a gamekeeper who by the early 1890s was employed on the Brodie Castle Estate, Forres, Morayshire where he eventually became the Head Gamekeeper.
John followed in his father's footsteps and also became a gamekeeper. At the outbreak of the war, he was employed on the Ardtornish Estate at Morvern, Argyllshire but decided to volunteer and travelled to Perth to enlist with the Black Watch on 7 September 1914.
After completing less than three months training, John was sent to France and Flanders disembarking on 2 December 1914. He joined the 1st Battalion in the field the following day as one of a draft of 150 men to help rebuild the Battalion as a fighting unit after the huge losses suffered during the First Battle of Ypres that had subsided only ten days or so before.
Just days before Christmas 1914, the Battalion along with others of the Division received orders to redeploy from Ypres to the then southernmost part of the line held by the British army at Cuinchy to counter an anticipated advance by the enemy.
On the morning of 25 January 1915, four enemy mines were detonated in the notorious Brickstacks sector of the front and the line held by the Coldstream and Scots Guards was overwhelmed by a concerted attack.
Three companies of John's Battalion along with other reinforcements were thrown into the line in a desperate attempt to stabilise the position. It was during the hours of bitter fighting that ensued that John became one of the 59 fatalities suffered by his Battalion that day.
Following his death, his parents received a letter from one of John's comrades describing his last moments:
'The attack was fierce, and John got a bullet in the leg. Nevertheless, he crawled to the assistance of his officer, also wounded, and was in the act of helping him to remove his pack when he was fatally shot. He was promoted Lance Corporal only a few days before.'
The officer concerned, 2nd Lieutenant Willett, elaborated further on the circumstances of John's death in a separate letter to his brother:
'Some gallant fellow crawled up to me shortly after I was hit, and attempted to assist me off with my pack, but owing to the nature of my wound, I was unable to turn my neck sufficiently around to see who it was. I heard he was hit, and asked him if it was so. He replied: 'Yes Sir'; and when I inquired later, I received no reply, but could just touch his hand by reaching back, and found he was dead. From the sound of his voice I thought it was your brother, who was in my Platoon, and I hoped it wasn't so, and that I had made a mistake, for he was one of my most valued men .... His end was a gallant one, and his was a peaceful conclusion to a career, which, had he been spared to prolong it, he could have looked back on with the justifiable pride of one who has done his work well.'
Before John's remains were recovered, he was commemorated on the LE TOURET MEMORIAL along with the names of 53 of his comrades who were also killed in action on the same day but have no known graves.
JOHN'S death was not the only tragedy to touch the family. His brother, GEORGE, died of wounds on 11 April 1918 whilst serving as a Captain with the 1/6th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. GEORGE'S baby son, JOHN, was born a little more than seven weeks before his father's death. JOHN was also killed in action as a Navigator Flight Lieutenant over Normandy just one month after D Day in 1944.
George Morrison (John's brother)
John Morrison (John's nephew)
.
He was the fourth of a family of seven children born to his parents, John and Margaret, between the years 1882-1893. His father worked as a gamekeeper who by the early 1890s was employed on the Brodie Castle Estate, Forres, Morayshire where he eventually became the Head Gamekeeper.
John followed in his father's footsteps and also became a gamekeeper. At the outbreak of the war, he was employed on the Ardtornish Estate at Morvern, Argyllshire but decided to volunteer and travelled to Perth to enlist with the Black Watch on 7 September 1914.
After completing less than three months training, John was sent to France and Flanders disembarking on 2 December 1914. He joined the 1st Battalion in the field the following day as one of a draft of 150 men to help rebuild the Battalion as a fighting unit after the huge losses suffered during the First Battle of Ypres that had subsided only ten days or so before.
Just days before Christmas 1914, the Battalion along with others of the Division received orders to redeploy from Ypres to the then southernmost part of the line held by the British army at Cuinchy to counter an anticipated advance by the enemy.
On the morning of 25 January 1915, four enemy mines were detonated in the notorious Brickstacks sector of the front and the line held by the Coldstream and Scots Guards was overwhelmed by a concerted attack.
Three companies of John's Battalion along with other reinforcements were thrown into the line in a desperate attempt to stabilise the position. It was during the hours of bitter fighting that ensued that John became one of the 59 fatalities suffered by his Battalion that day.
Following his death, his parents received a letter from one of John's comrades describing his last moments:
'The attack was fierce, and John got a bullet in the leg. Nevertheless, he crawled to the assistance of his officer, also wounded, and was in the act of helping him to remove his pack when he was fatally shot. He was promoted Lance Corporal only a few days before.'
The officer concerned, 2nd Lieutenant Willett, elaborated further on the circumstances of John's death in a separate letter to his brother:
'Some gallant fellow crawled up to me shortly after I was hit, and attempted to assist me off with my pack, but owing to the nature of my wound, I was unable to turn my neck sufficiently around to see who it was. I heard he was hit, and asked him if it was so. He replied: 'Yes Sir'; and when I inquired later, I received no reply, but could just touch his hand by reaching back, and found he was dead. From the sound of his voice I thought it was your brother, who was in my Platoon, and I hoped it wasn't so, and that I had made a mistake, for he was one of my most valued men .... His end was a gallant one, and his was a peaceful conclusion to a career, which, had he been spared to prolong it, he could have looked back on with the justifiable pride of one who has done his work well.'
Before John's remains were recovered, he was commemorated on the LE TOURET MEMORIAL along with the names of 53 of his comrades who were also killed in action on the same day but have no known graves.
JOHN'S death was not the only tragedy to touch the family. His brother, GEORGE, died of wounds on 11 April 1918 whilst serving as a Captain with the 1/6th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. GEORGE'S baby son, JOHN, was born a little more than seven weeks before his father's death. JOHN was also killed in action as a Navigator Flight Lieutenant over Normandy just one month after D Day in 1944.
George Morrison (John's brother)
John Morrison (John's nephew)
.
John Morrison was born on 14 November 1885 at Inveravon, Banffshire in the Highlands of Scotland and was 29 years old when killed in action with the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch on 25 January 1915.
He was the fourth of a family of seven children born to his parents, John and Margaret, between the years 1882-1893. His father worked as a gamekeeper who by the early 1890s was employed on the Brodie Castle Estate, Forres, Morayshire where he eventually became the Head Gamekeeper.
John followed in his father's footsteps and also became a gamekeeper. At the outbreak of the war, he was employed on the Ardtornish Estate at Morvern, Argyllshire but decided to volunteer and travelled to Perth to enlist with the Black Watch on 7 September 1914.
After completing less than three months training, John was sent to France and Flanders disembarking on 2 December 1914. He joined the 1st Battalion in the field the following day as one of a draft of 150 men to help rebuild the Battalion as a fighting unit after the huge losses suffered during the First Battle of Ypres that had subsided only ten days or so before.
Just days before Christmas 1914, the Battalion along with others of the Division received orders to redeploy from Ypres to the then southernmost part of the line held by the British army at Cuinchy to counter an anticipated advance by the enemy.
On the morning of 25 January 1915, four enemy mines were detonated in the notorious Brickstacks sector of the front and the line held by the Coldstream and Scots Guards was overwhelmed by a concerted attack.
Three companies of John's Battalion along with other reinforcements were thrown into the line in a desperate attempt to stabilise the position. It was during the hours of bitter fighting that ensued that John became one of the 59 fatalities suffered by his Battalion that day.
Following his death, his parents received a letter from one of John's comrades describing his last moments:
'The attack was fierce, and John got a bullet in the leg. Nevertheless, he crawled to the assistance of his officer, also wounded, and was in the act of helping him to remove his pack when he was fatally shot. He was promoted Lance Corporal only a few days before.'
The officer concerned, 2nd Lieutenant Willett, elaborated further on the circumstances of John's death in a separate letter to his brother:
'Some gallant fellow crawled up to me shortly after I was hit, and attempted to assist me off with my pack, but owing to the nature of my wound, I was unable to turn my neck sufficiently around to see who it was. I heard he was hit, and asked him if it was so. He replied: 'Yes Sir'; and when I inquired later, I received no reply, but could just touch his hand by reaching back, and found he was dead. From the sound of his voice I thought it was your brother, who was in my Platoon, and I hoped it wasn't so, and that I had made a mistake, for he was one of my most valued men .... His end was a gallant one, and his was a peaceful conclusion to a career, which, had he been spared to prolong it, he could have looked back on with the justifiable pride of one who has done his work well.'
Before John's remains were recovered, he was commemorated on the LE TOURET MEMORIAL along with the names of 53 of his comrades who were also killed in action on the same day but have no known graves.
JOHN'S death was not the only tragedy to touch the family. His brother, GEORGE, died of wounds on 11 April 1918 whilst serving as a Captain with the 1/6th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. GEORGE'S baby son, JOHN, was born a little more than seven weeks before his father's death. JOHN was also killed in action as a Navigator Flight Lieutenant over Normandy just one month after D Day in 1944.
George Morrison (John's brother)
John Morrison (John's nephew)
.
He was the fourth of a family of seven children born to his parents, John and Margaret, between the years 1882-1893. His father worked as a gamekeeper who by the early 1890s was employed on the Brodie Castle Estate, Forres, Morayshire where he eventually became the Head Gamekeeper.
John followed in his father's footsteps and also became a gamekeeper. At the outbreak of the war, he was employed on the Ardtornish Estate at Morvern, Argyllshire but decided to volunteer and travelled to Perth to enlist with the Black Watch on 7 September 1914.
After completing less than three months training, John was sent to France and Flanders disembarking on 2 December 1914. He joined the 1st Battalion in the field the following day as one of a draft of 150 men to help rebuild the Battalion as a fighting unit after the huge losses suffered during the First Battle of Ypres that had subsided only ten days or so before.
Just days before Christmas 1914, the Battalion along with others of the Division received orders to redeploy from Ypres to the then southernmost part of the line held by the British army at Cuinchy to counter an anticipated advance by the enemy.
On the morning of 25 January 1915, four enemy mines were detonated in the notorious Brickstacks sector of the front and the line held by the Coldstream and Scots Guards was overwhelmed by a concerted attack.
Three companies of John's Battalion along with other reinforcements were thrown into the line in a desperate attempt to stabilise the position. It was during the hours of bitter fighting that ensued that John became one of the 59 fatalities suffered by his Battalion that day.
Following his death, his parents received a letter from one of John's comrades describing his last moments:
'The attack was fierce, and John got a bullet in the leg. Nevertheless, he crawled to the assistance of his officer, also wounded, and was in the act of helping him to remove his pack when he was fatally shot. He was promoted Lance Corporal only a few days before.'
The officer concerned, 2nd Lieutenant Willett, elaborated further on the circumstances of John's death in a separate letter to his brother:
'Some gallant fellow crawled up to me shortly after I was hit, and attempted to assist me off with my pack, but owing to the nature of my wound, I was unable to turn my neck sufficiently around to see who it was. I heard he was hit, and asked him if it was so. He replied: 'Yes Sir'; and when I inquired later, I received no reply, but could just touch his hand by reaching back, and found he was dead. From the sound of his voice I thought it was your brother, who was in my Platoon, and I hoped it wasn't so, and that I had made a mistake, for he was one of my most valued men .... His end was a gallant one, and his was a peaceful conclusion to a career, which, had he been spared to prolong it, he could have looked back on with the justifiable pride of one who has done his work well.'
Before John's remains were recovered, he was commemorated on the LE TOURET MEMORIAL along with the names of 53 of his comrades who were also killed in action on the same day but have no known graves.
JOHN'S death was not the only tragedy to touch the family. His brother, GEORGE, died of wounds on 11 April 1918 whilst serving as a Captain with the 1/6th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. GEORGE'S baby son, JOHN, was born a little more than seven weeks before his father's death. JOHN was also killed in action as a Navigator Flight Lieutenant over Normandy just one month after D Day in 1944.
George Morrison (John's brother)
John Morrison (John's nephew)
.
Inscription
S 5181 L. CPL.
J. MORRISON
The Black Watch
25th January, 1915 age 29
"REST IN PEACE"
.
Gravesite Details
Previously commemorated on Le Touret Memorial - panel 24
