The 1st Lovat’s Scouts Yeomanry served in Gallipoli, Salonika, and in (from 1918) France, but the regiment was represented in France from 1916 in the form of groups of “sharpshooters”. Nine groups were formed, each of twenty men under an officer. Despite their title, their value lay more in observation than sniping: “every man was a picked stalker and glassman”, said Major Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Pritchard, who trained their reinforcements at First Army Sniping School.
Background
The Sharpshooters had their roots in the Lovat Scouts, formed by Lord Lovat in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War, and the establishment on 1908 of the 1st and 2nd Lovat’s Scouts Yeomanry as units of the new Territorial Force. Both units were in Salonika by the time the Sharpshooters formed for service in France and had merged to become the 10th (Lovat’s Scouts) Battalion of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders.
The experience of trench warfare in 1914 and 1915 revealed the value of sniping. British losses to German snipers were acute, and it took some time for the British to respond and eventually overtake the enemy in this field. Specialist sniping sections and schools of instruction developed, and snipers were found from a wide variety of regiments and units. Of these, the Lovat’s Scouts Sharpshooters were perhaps the most unusual, and from a research viewpoint they are most elusive.
Sharpshooters are formed
It was recognised that the huntsmen of the Highlands possessed valuable skills that would be of use in the trenches: good marksmen, and those who knew how to use telescopes as a means of spotting prey.
Further advertisements appeared in Scottish newspapers on 29 and 30 December 1916, seeking 100 men as observers to join those already serving at the front as sharpshooters. Applicants were assured they would serve in small groups under their own officers and NCOs and men would be kept together. The recruits trained at Beauly under Major Ewen Grant.
The Groups were as follows (I will add detail of embarkation dates when I find them … along with any other useful data)
1 Group
2 Group
3 Group
4 Group (eventually went to Italy)
5 Group
6 Group
7 Group
8 Group
9 Group
10th (Lovat’s Scouts) Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders
On 23 June 1918, soon after it landed in France from Salonika, this unit went to Etaples to begin training in map reading and signalling, as it was to be utilised as observers in the same way as the Lovat’s Scouts Sharpshooters. It then moved to Merlimont and began to form Observation Groups. The first – 10 Group – left on 20 September 1918. On 13 October 1918, 11 Group left to join XIII Corps. Five days later, 12 Group moved off to join XI Corps. 13 Group left for XV Corps on 2 November 1918. The battalion, effectively a training base, remained at Merlimont until it was disbanded on 17 April 1919.
Researching a man of the Sharpshooters
While the process of researching a man of the Sharpshooters is the same as for any other regiment or corps, a difficulty arises as it was not formalised as a unit for the purposes of the Army Act, and as such men generally appear in records under the regiment or corps from which they were attached.
For example, Pte 125048 Alexander McMillan was killed in France on 2 April 1917. Records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission give him as being with the 10th (Lovat’s Scouts) Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders, which was in Salonika when he died. The original registration of his burial has him with the 3/1st Lovat’s Scouts Yeomanry and his campaign medal records refer to him as being with Lovat’s Scouts Dragoons. His service record no longer exists, leaving nothing at all that tells us he was with the Sharpshooters – except for a mention in a newspaper article (“The Oban Times” of Saturday 23 March 1918, describing the deaths of Alexander and his brother Malcolm.)
Another example is Pte 203162 J. Mcarthur, died aged 39 on 20 June 1917 of appendicitis while training with the Sharpshooters at Beauly. He is given by records as being of the 4th Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders.
The word Sharpshooters appears in many records, but in connection with the 3rd County of London Yeomanry and nothing to do with the Lovat’s Scouts variety.
It has been said that one man in five was decorated for gallantry or bravery. This (to me) remains unproven.
Sources
Book “Sniping in France, with notes on the scientific training of scouts, observers, and snipers” by Major H. Hesketh-Pritchard (online version here)
