WW1 records.....

[GailMc]

Thanks for the reply David. I don't think he was killed in action as there is no lisiting of a battle that the Seaforths took part in in April 1918 but of course he could have died of wounds or caught one of the many diseases around at the time.

Gail

[DavidWW]

Thanks for the reply David. I don't think he was killed in action as there is no lisiting of a battle that the Seaforths took part in in April 1918 but of course he could have died of wounds or caught one of the many diseases around at the time.

Gail

It didn't need to involve a major action. Front line service in the trenches on the Western Front would mean that a regiment suffered regular casualties through patrols on both sides, small scale actions, mining etc.

You don't mention which battalion of the Seaforths. Be aware that there were 17 Bns of Seaforths in WWI, all but 4 active service battalions.

David

[GailMc]

Thanks for that info David. My husband has checked with his local contact at the CWGC, who works extremely quickly, and it seems he died of influenza in hospital. Just for interest, he was in the 7th Battalion.

Gail

[DavidWW]

Thanks for that info David. My husband has checked with his local contact at the CWGC, who works extremely quickly, and it seems he died of influenza in hospital. Just for interest, he was in the 7th Battalion.

Gail

Hmmmm....... very current, in terms of Avian flu, in the very sad context of the last major flu pandemic in the late 1910s, early 1920s ..........

David

[StewL]

Just thought I would post this, as your ancestor more than likely died of the Spanish flu

The Spanish Flu Pandemic, also known as La Grippe, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza, a viral infectious disease, that killed some 25 million to 50 million people worldwide in 1918 and 1919. It is thought to have been one of the most deadly pandemics so far in human history. It was caused by the H1N1 type of flu virus, which is similar to bird flu of today, mainly H5N1 and H5N2.
The Allies of World War I frequently called it the "Spanish Flu". This was mainly because the pandemic received greater press attention in Spain than in the rest of the world, because Spain was not involved in the war and there was no wartime censorship. Spain did have one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease, with some 8 million people infected in May 1918. It was also described as "only the flu" or "the grippe" by public health officials seeking to prevent panic.
The Spanish flu might have contributed to the end of World War I. More United States soldiers died from the Spanish flu during World War I than from the war itself.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Thrall]

Stewl,
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember having read that more died from the Spanish Flu than in in hostilities worldwide, not just in the US troops, hence the anxiety about the "bird flu" now prevalent.

We´ll just have to hope for the best, bearing in mind that it was the younger who died then, unusually, because of lack of antibodies apparently.

Thrall.

Edit:Do I detect a certain relief not to have been born yesterday? yes?..........

[StewL]

Hi Thrall

You are right about the numbers!

It was an edited version of the original that I posted.

Considering the age factor!!! I am on your side too

Age does have its benefits, and maybe we have been around so much that we have acquired strong immunity to a number of germs

[Thrall]

Hi StewL - nae prob!
People here in Iceland still remember the horrors of the Spanish Flu, as, having escaped fairly lightly from WW1, the infection spread very fast on arrival, at the same time as the coldest winter for 30-40years, with 15-30 degrees of frost for weeks at a time made things even worse. The mortaliy rate was very high. I've spoken to people who described lying in bed, two or three up, for weeks, trying to keep warm with only one person getting up for a short time to feed the animals and collect some food. In Reykjavík, only the undertaker was permitted to follow the deceased from a funeral, as standing around in the cold at a graveside was considered very much life threatening. How they dug, I don´t know.

Thrall

[GailMc]

Thanks for the info guys. Stewie you mentioned the 'flu as being around in May 1918, my William John Robertson died in April - do you know if "Spanish 'flu" was around that early in the year? He was still a young man at 38 and as you say it seemed to go for the young and fit!

I also noticed that you are looking for Downies. I have an Isabella Downie in my ancestry and she is one of my brickwalls at present. She married James Pennycook in 1825 in Kettins - any connection at all?

Gail

[StewL]

Hello Gail

According to what I read it is more than likely your man was one of the earliest victims. I believe it mutated around that time, but you have to remember that if he had been in the trenches his immunity would have been lowered due to the privations suffered there.
Here is some more stuff on the La Grippe which might help as it indicates it was around in early spring 1918!

The Spanish Flu

The name of Spanish Flu came from the early affliction and large mortalities in Spain (BMJ,10/19/1918) where it allegedly killed 8 million in May (BMJ, 7/13/1918). However, a first wave of influenza appeared early in the spring of 1918 in Kansas and in military camps throughout the US. Few noticed the epidemic in the midst of the war…
The lack of action was later criticized when the epidemic could not be ignored in the winter of 1918 (BMJ, 1918). These first epidemics at training camps were a sign of what was coming in greater magnitude in the fall and winter of 1918 to the entire world.

The war brought the virus back into the US for the second wave of the epidemic. It first arrived in Boston in September of 1918 through the port busy with war shipments of machinery and supplies. The war also enabled the virus to spread and diffuse. Men across the nation were mobilizing to join the military and the cause. As they came together, they brought the virus with them and to those they contacted. The virus killed almost 200,00 in October of 1918 alone. In November 11 of 1918 the end of the war enabled a resurgence. As people celebrated Armistice Day with parades and large parties, a complete disaster from the public health standpoint, a rebirth of the epidemic occurred in some cities. The flu that winter was beyond imagination as millions were infected and thousands died. Just as the war had effected the course of influenza, influenza affected the war. Entire fleets were ill with the disease and men on the front were too sick to fight. The flu was devastating to both sides, killing more men than their own weapons could…

by Molly Billings, June, 1997 modified RDS February, 2005

Geographic origin
Many infections with similar but milder symptoms were recorded in the spring of 1918, with sore throat, headaches, dizziness, and loss of appetite. It has been proposed that the earliest known cases were in Haskell County, Kansas, in January 1918. Several local men were inducted into the army at Fort Riley, Kansas, where on March 4, 1918, company cook A G reported to the infirmary with a temperature of 103°F (39.5°C). He was soon followed by Corporal L D and Sergeant A H. Within two days 522 men at the camp had reported sick. In the summer, infections became much more severe. In August 1918 the more deadly version broke out simultaneously in three disparate locations, Brest, France; Boston, Massachusetts; and Freetown, Sierra Leone. Many of the worst outbreaks of the "Flu" were among soldiers, both at the front lines and in camps far away which soon spread into civilian populations. Severe outbreaks often required hospitalization and even with the best of care, often one-third of those infected died...
Source: Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
(Names edited by me.)
For anyone interested in this full article I suggest they Google “Spanish Flu Epidemic” and read the Wikipedia thread.
Reading the section on Genetic Mutation would think they are reading about our current concerns about Avian Flu.


Gail about my Downies

At the present I only have two Downies in my lot.

William Downie B. Abt 1816 my ggggrandfather who married Mary Jeffrey
And their Daughter Mary Downie B. Abt 1836 and died in 1908. who is my gggrandmother.

Unfortunately at this point I don’t have any other family members on this line.