8th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders, 2 August 1918
Synopsis of Life and Military Service
From Forres to the Fields of France
On 22 March 1883, in the narrow wynds of Kerrs Close, Forres, George Jamieson was
born into a Scotland that still carried the pace of the Victorian age. His mother, Mary
Alexander, was raising a family in a town where news travelled slowly, often by word of
mouth in the market square. Forres in the late 19th century was a modest but proud
burgh, with its cobbled streets, stone-built closes, and the farmlands of Morayshire
stretching out in every direction.
George’s childhood was marked by the mix of joy and loss that so often shapes a life.
His younger brother, Stanley, was born when George was just three, and the two grew
up together playing in the closes and fields. But tragedy struck in July 1892 when his
older brother Frank died aged 19—a blow that came when George was just nine years
old.
By 1901, George had left the family home and was working as a farm servant in
Cawdor, Nairnshire. It was the kind of work that demanded early mornings, long hours,
and the physical resilience of youth. A year later, on 23 October 1902, he married
Jessie Stephen. The couple settled in Rafford, a small parish of scattered farms and
cottages. George’s days were filled with the steady routines of agricultural
life—ploughing in spring, harvesting in autumn, mending tools in the quiet winter
months.
Children arrived in quick succession. Jane Jean Cumming in 1906, Mary Alexander in
1907, George Stephen McKay in 1908, Jessie Ann Allen in 1911, Marjory in 1912,
Margaret Helen in 1913, and finally Alice Rachel in December 1915. By then, the war
that had begun in the summer of 1914 was already claiming men from every parish in
Scotland.
Enlistment and the Seaforth Highlanders
On 30 October 1915, George travelled into Forres to enlist. At 32, he was older than
many recruits and already the father of six. He joined the 6th Battalion, Seaforth
Highlanders as Private 3569, later serving with the 8th Battalion under the new
number 266428. The Seaforth Highlanders, a regiment steeped in the traditions of the
Highlands, had already seen heavy fighting on the Western Front.
His training would have been brisk; there was no luxury of long preparation by 1915. By
the time he arrived in France, the war had settled into the deadly stalemate of trenches,
mud, and artillery barrages.
Wounded in France
On 8 December 1916, George suffered a gunshot wound to the left shoulder. The injury
was serious enough to see him evacuated home. He spent a period recovering in
Ireland before returning to Moray, where he assisted Mr Masson at Rafford Farm.
For a few months, his life may have felt almost normal again—working the fields,
surrounded by family. But in August 1917, fit enough to return, he rejoined his unit and
went back to France.
The Final Months – Summer 1918
By July 1918, the tide of the war was turning. The German spring offensives had been
halted, and Allied forces, including the 8th Seaforths, were preparing to push forward in
what would become the Hundred Days Offensive. In the Oise region of France,
George’s battalion was operating in the sector around Senlis.
On 24 July 1918, George was wounded by a bomb blast—likely from artillery or aerial
attack. He was taken to the 63rd Casualty Clearing Station at Senlis, where he lingered
for over a week. Despite the efforts of military doctors and nurses, George died of his
wounds on 2 August 1918, aged 35.
Burial
He is buried in Senlis French National Cemetery, Oise, France, where neat rows of white headstones stand in ordered silence, watched over by the town’s old stone buildings. The cemetery, established in June 1918, holds over 100 Commonwealth graves, many from the same summer battles that claimed George.
Guremy (2008 Find a Grave).
Aftermath and Memory
The news reached home and was reported in The Northern Scot on 17 August 1918. Jessie was left with seven children, the youngest just two years old. Like so many wartime widows, she had to rebuild a life with memories and medals as the only return for her husband’s service. She was the recipient of his belongings and war pension.
A Life Cut Short
George Jamieson’s story is one of the countless threads in the tapestry of the Great War: a man whose life was firmly rooted in the farming communities of Rafford and Dallas, yet whose end came in a French field hospital far from home. He was a husband, a father, a labourer, and a soldier. His sacrifice, like that of so many, rippled far beyond the moment of his death, shaping the lives of those he left behind.
War Diary – 8th Seaforth Highlanders
The War Diary of the 8th Seaforth Highlanders around the date of the serious injury to George reads the following :-
23 July 1918
St Pierre Aigle
23 July 1918: 3am – Battalion Headquarters established on the side of the PARIS – SOISSONS ROAD, 100 yeards South of CRAVANCON FARM. The day passed quietly. Casualties 2nd Lieutenant A. HUTCHISON wounded.
Reserve Battalion, Reserve Brigade, Centre Division
24 July 1918: The day passed quietly and the battalion was occupied in digging-in and securing up battalion area. Parties of 1 Officer and 1 NCO at Company and Battalion Headquarters reconnoitred forward positions. Casualties – 1 Other Rank killed, 4 Other Ranks wounded.
25 July 1918: The day was fairly quiet except for periodical heavy shelling of CRAVANCON FARM and Cross Roads especially towards nightfall. Operational Order 201 was issued. A large number of shells, medium calibre fell near Battalion Headquartes, causing our casualty and setting fire to dumps at CRAVANCON FARM and small artillery dumps on the road side 50 yards south of Battalion Headquarters. Volunteers to extinguished these fires were called for, and before all considerable damage had been done, their task was successfully accomplished. The Battalion moved forward and took over positions of Reserve Battalion, Right Brigade. Enemy continued harrassing fire of back area, but did not impede the relief to any extent. Casualties: 5 Other Ranks wounded.
Family
George Jamison was born on 22 March 1883 at Forres, Morayshire. The following family information has been ascertained from several sources including the 1891, 1901, 1911 Census and his Pension Card.
His family is shown as follows :-
- Wife: Jessie Stephen or Jamieson, born c.1879 @ Rafford, Morayshire. (d.1944)
- Daughter: Jane Cumming, born 25 October 1906 at Dallas, Morayshire. (d.1977)
- Daughter: Mary Alexander, born 11 December 1907 at Dallas, Morayshire. (d.2005)
- Son: George Stephen Mackay, born 31 December 1908 at Dallas, Moray. (d.1995)
- Daughter: Jessie Ann Allan, born 26 June 1911. (d.1996)
- Daughter: Marjory, born 16 October 1912. (d.1982)
- Daughter: Margaret Helen, born 20 November 1913. (d.1935)
- Daughter: Alice Rachel, born 18 December 1914. (d.1997)
Parents
- Father: George Jamieson 1845-1904 (Occupation: Shoemaker).
- Mother: Mary Alexander 1843–1911.
Siblings
- Brother: Frank, born c.1873 at Forres, Morayshire. (d.1892)
- Sister: Jane, born c.1879 at Forres, Morayshire.
- Brother: Stanley Findlay, born c.1886 at Forres, Morayshire. (d.1943)
Addresses
The following addresses have been ascertained for George Jamieson :-
- 1891: 12a, Kerrs Close, North Street, Forres, Morayshire.
- 1911: Rhininver Cottages, Dallas, Morayshire.
Medals
George Jamieson was awarded the Victory and the British War Medals for his service in the Great War.
Memorials
George Jamieson is honoured and remembered on the following memorials :-
- Dallas Parish War Memorial, Moray, Scotland.
- Scottish National War Memorial, Edinburgh Castle.
Links to Additional Information
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission: George Jamieson.
- Find a Grave website: George Jamieson.
- A Street Near You website: George Jamieson.
- Lives of the First World War: George Jamieson.
References
- Morayshire Roll of Honour 1921 (p.190: Jamieson, George).
- 1891 Scottish Census (Ancestry).
- 1901 Scottish Census (Ancestry).
- 1911 Census (Scotlands People).
- Find a Grave® Index : Private George Jamieson.
- Moray, Scotland, Local Heritage Index, 1632-2014.
- Imperial War Museum War Memorial Register: 8705, Dallas Scotland.
- Medal Index Card (The National Archive).
- Pension Card (Western Front Association).
- 8th Seaforth Highlanders War Diary (Ancestry).
- The Northern Scot newspaper dated 17 August 1918.
- Register of Soldiers Effects (Ancestry).
- Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19 (Ancestry)
Groups
Contributors:-
- Sasha Cameron. (Main Article)
WW1 LIVES 