Scotland forever and second to none

The 7th Black Watch at El Alamein, October 23-31 1942

The second battle of El Alamein would be one of the most decisive victories of the Second World War

The Allied victory at El Alamein in October 1942 was the beginning of the end of the Western Desert campaign. Fought between Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, recently appointed commander of the British Eighth Army and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, “The Desert Fox”, the second battle of El Alamein would be one of the decisive victories of the Second World War, reviving Allied morale and leading to the retreat of the Afrika Korps and German surrender in North Africa in May 1943. Its significance was stressed by Winston Churchill who said: “Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.” Montgomery’s forces comprised almost 200,000 men and included the 7th Black Watch, part of the reconstituted 51st Highland Division which had been forced to surrender to Rommel in June 1940. The division included three Black Watch battalions. General Montgomery was under no illusion as to the significance of the coming action. His message to the troops was clear: “The battle which is now about to begin will be one of the decisive battles of our history. It will be the turning point of the war. “The eyes of the whole world will be on us, watching anxiously which way the battle will swing. We can give them their answer at once: ‘It will swing our way’. “All that is necessary is that each one of us, every

officer and man, should enter this battle with the determination to see it through – to fight and to kill – and finally, to win...and let no man surrender so long as he is unwounded and can fight.” The Highland Division occupied its position in the El Alamein Line on the evening of October 22 1942, moving into prepared assembly areas. In front of them, as described by writer and military historian Eric Linklater, “was a five-mile depth of minefields and wire, defended by machine-guns, mortars and above all the Afrika Korps’ armour and anti-tank guns”. The plan of attack required a frontal assault to open up the way for the British tanks behind. The first stage of the battle was marked by an intense bombardment along the entire 40-mile front. The 1st and 5th Black Watch went forward with the leading wave at 10pm on October 23, advancing to the sound of the pipes. On capturing their objective, each battalion was passed by another who continued the advance. The 7th Black Watch were on the Highland Division’s left flank opposite the Miteiriya Ridge. It was tasked with leapfrogging a position captured by the 5th Cameron Highlanders. During the advance six of the 7th Black Watch’s navigating officers were wounded, one fatally. Before the battalion had reached the ridge all companies had sustained casualties. Captain Charles F Cathcart of Pitcairlie, Newburgh, led a small party comprising the survivors of his own D Company and B Company, which had sustained very heavy casualties, up the rocky slope and drove the Germans off the ridge. His party encountered fierce opposition and “the enemy was met with in person”. One officer was killed and the remaining four wounded, including Cathcart. As dawn broke, 30 survivors, one and a half platoons, occupied their objective, the only part of the “Blue” line, marking the German defensive positions, captured by the Highland Division that evening. Cathcart’s party now held an exposed position on the ridge’s western slope, part of which was still held by the Germans, for the whole of the following day. The situation was precarious. Only the 7th Black Watch and the 21st New Zealand Battalion on their left flank had reached their objectives and the supporting armour found it difficult to clear the congested paths carved through the German minefields. By the evening of October 26 the 51st Highland Division had advanced six miles, suffering over 2,000 casualties. The depleted 7th Black Watch was finally relieved by the Cape Town Highlanders on October 31. Six officers and 72 other ranks were killed in action and 13 officers and 170 other ranks wounded. These included Captain Ian Archibald de Hoghton Lyle, the eldest son of Sir Archibald Lyle of Murthly, Perthshire. Captain Lyle was a director of Tate and Lyle, the Liverpool and London sugar refiners. He had married in 1938 and left a wife and young son and daughter. He was 33 years old. Lieutenant George R Dawson, whose parents resided at Station Road, Kingskettle, died on October 25, aged 22. He was a former pupil of Bell Baxter High School, Cupar and had recently graduated with an MA at the University of St Andrews before enlisting. He is buried in El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt. Lieutenant George France Morrison, 21, was another who fell. He was the only son of Andrew and Norah Morrison, Perth Road, Crieff and a former pupil at Morrison’s Academy. He had volunteered at the outbreak of war but was considered too young and in the interval he studied at the University of Aberdeen for two years. He was described as “a young man of great promise – a soldier who was prepared to do all he could for his country in its hour of need.” Company sergeant majors John Simpson, Methil, and John Husband, 28 Kinnoull Street, Perth, also appeared in the roll of honour. The latter was 30 years of age and had served in The Black Watch for nine years. In civilian life he had been a joiner in Dunfermline Linen Mills. He was survived by a wife, Elizabeth and two young children. Private Alexander Cunningham Batchelor, a 24-yearold jute preparer, 16 Sandeman Street, Dundee, whose father had been killed in the Great War, would also die in the service of his country. Employed in the Bowbridge Works, he had two brothers serving in the Merchant Navy and RAF. Private John Anderson, another native of Dundee, was killed on October 24. Before the war he was employed by John Connacher and Son, plumbers, 179 Blackness Road. He was aged just 20. An editorial in the St Andrews Citizen stated: “They (the Highland Division) were given a job which needed everything that goes to make up a soldier – guts and endurance and the spirit which is determined to win through despite the cost. The “Jocks” had these qualities in abundance. “Scotland forever and second to none.”