Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Family Group:

Four: Major A. Blaikie, 14th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Scottish), who sustained a bullet wound to the thigh in the gallant ‘Halloween’ charge at Messines on 31 October 1914, one of nine officers killed or wounded in this first Territorial Regiment engagement of the Great War, and the first Chartered Accountant to become a casualty
1914 Star, with clasp (Capt: A. Blaikie. 14/Lond: R.); British War and Victory Medals (Major A. Blaikie.); Defence Medal, the first three mounted as worn, the Defence Medal loose; together with the recipient’s London Scottish Old Comrades Association gilt and enamel badge, good very fine and better

Pair: Mrs. B. Blaikie, British Red Cross Society, who served as a Child Welfare Officer in Copthorne, West Sussex
Defence Medal, with B.R.C.S. Associate badge pinned to riband; Voluntary Medical Service Medal, silver (Mrs. Brenda Blaikie); together with the recipient’s B.R.C.S. Proficiency in First Aid badge (2722 B. Blaikie) and B.R.C.S. For Merit badge (4041 B. Blaikie) the last in original named card box of issue, nearly extremely fine (8) £400-£500

Adrian Blaikie was born on 28 August 1886, the fourth son of James Blaikie of 15 Church Crescent, Finchley. Educated at Dulwich College, he is recorded on the School Register as qualifying A.C.A. in February 1909 and taking employment with the firm of Maclaine & Co. in 1911. Commissioned Lieutenant in April 1914, Blaikie crossed the Channel to France with the 1/14th London Regiment per S.S. Winnifredia on 15 September 1914 as part of a fairly exclusive club; his compatriots were almost entirely composed of white-collar London professionals, headed by private school boys and university-educated men, who had paid a subscription to join and had proven themselves Scottish by birth or parentage.

Initially sent to St. Omer, the men spent their first few weeks overseas employed as labour and prisoner escorts, the linguists being assigned liaison duties with French command. Transferred to lines of communication duties, their role soon changed in late October 1914 as the British line began to fragment along a ridge of high ground running south from Ypres known as the Wytschaete-Messines Ridge. Considered strategically vital, if the Germans managed to occupy and hold this position then they could dominate the ground to the west and endanger the British force holding Ypres.

The Stand of the London Scottish at Messines
Described as a ‘baptism of fire’ on 31 October 1914, the repulsion of four separate German bayonet attacks by men of the 14th London Regiment is perhaps the most significant action in the storied history of the Regiment, later immortalised in a famous artwork by Richard Caton-Woodville. Commencing around 9pm, waves of enemy charged at the British lines and were driven back by rifle fire and a series of counter attacks. Forced to ‘single feed’ rounds one at a time into the newly-issued Mark 1 rifles, the London Scottish immediately compensated for weak springs and incorrect front stop clips through steady shooting and the experience of training; proud of their marksmanship at Bisley, they proved highly proficient in administering the ‘mad minute’ of 15 aimed shots in 60 seconds.

A fine firsthand account of the valour of the London Scottish was later published in the Civil & Military Gazette on 5 November 1914:
‘The Scottish were ordered to occupy a ridge crowning beet fields. They advanced in the open, exposed to murderous shrapnel fire from artillery two miles distant, without cover, but they pushed forward to the enemy’s trenches. The Germans in overwhelming numbers rushed out with fixed bayonets. The Scottish also fixed bayonets and did not wait for the attack. They charged the advancing enemy. The impact was terrific. The Scottish were overborne by numbers and recoiled. They reformed, however, and charged repeatedly. Then the Germans turned and ran. Two farmhouses were filled with Scottish wounded carried on stretchers. The Germans shelled them, and the wounded were removed, but only at great risk.’

Another graphic account by a soldier of the 1/14th London Scottish published in the Aberdeen Daily Journal on 6 November 1914, adds:
‘A large number, including myself, never succeeded in reaching the German trenches, falling victims to the hail of lead let loose upon us. The remainder, though blown with the sprint across the field, used their bayonets with all their might. From the shelter of the trees to which I crawled, I could see our men hacking and stabbing at the Germans right and left until the whole was a mass of struggling men. Three times our lines were broken, so desperate was the resistance, and so endless the numbers, but our men reformed on each occasion and charged again and again with bayonets dripping with blood.’

Despite such desperate resistance, enemy forces of the 6th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Division finally broke the British front and succeeded in making their way around the Battalion flank; the London Scottish had no choice but to withdraw west, leaving large numbers of wounded and unfortunate isolated parties to the mercy of the German advance. Eyewitness accounts later mention seeing the medical Officer, Captain A. MacNab, bayonetted and killed whilst attending to the wounded; amidst a scene of total confusion, approximately half the Battalion succeeded in withdrawing to Wulveringhem, casualties numbering 386 men of all ranks from a total strength of 802.

Confirmed upon his Officer Service Record as receiving a bullet wound to the right thigh during the engagement, Blaikie was evacuated from Boulogne to Dublin on 3 November 1914 aboard the S.S. Oxfordshire. He arrived two days later and spent the next two months recovering from the wound before returning via Holyhead to Battalion Depot and reporting for general service on 19 January 1915. Advanced Captain, Blaikie was appointed temporary Major in the London Gazette of 27 January 1916 and was later photographed at Sutton Veney in June 1916 with the 2/14th Battalion.

Blaikie later settled with his wife in Copthorne and returned to service during the Second World War as Commanding Officer of the local home guard. According to the Crawley and District Observer of 25 July 1947, he collapsed and died from heart failure whilst walking to the local shops to buy a newspaper.

Brenda Blaikie (nee Webb) married Major Adrian Blaikie at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Frognal, on 4 June 1914, just a week before her new husband was mobilised. Her obituary was published in the East Grinstead Observer on 4 May 1977 states:

‘A tribute to a founder member of Crawley Down WI was made at a thanksgiving service in Copthorne. The service was held in the chapel in memory of Mrs. Brenda Blaikie who died at her Copthorne home on April 6, aged 84 years. She and her husband had lived in Copthorne since 1921. Major Adrian Blaikie died in 1947.

Mrs Blaikie was a member of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Redhill, for more than 50 years and was also a member of the Copthorne Women’s Fellowship. She belonged to East Grinstead Art Club and was a member of the Red Cross for over 55 years. Copthorne will remember her as the child welfare officer. She subscribed to charities, including the Copthorne Band, Copthorne Residents’ Association and the local Guides and Scouts. She leaves a son, Andrew, and a daughter, Mary, who was casualty sister at Queen Victoria’s Hospital, East Grinstead.’