ONE OF THE MISSING OF THE SOMME-JOHN DAVID NISBET- DIED 1 JULY 1916

Memorial plaque; St Peter & St Paul , Longhoughton

When I was a child the names on the War Memorial in Longhoughton Church did not mean much to me.But later on I was told that one of the names was that of my great uncle John David Nisbet.It is next to last on the righthand side of the plaque. As I got to know the village better I recognised local names still well known in my youth-Foreman,Stanton, Wood, Douglas and Dodds. Some of these came from families which not only served in the military but provided  crews for  the lifeboat at Boulmer.

John  came to England a child when the family moved there from Midlothian.His father's work as a gamekeeper had brought him to Northumberland.

John David Nisbet died on 1 July 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He had just passed his 17th birthday and was in fact 17 years and three months old. His actual birthday was 2nd March 1899 and he passed his 17th birthday in France.This suggests to me that there is something in the family stories that John was tall for his age and was teased and harassed into  running off to join up. He was one of the tens of of thousands who responded to the call  for volunteers. The response was so overwhelming that recruiting  centres struggled to cope.It is no wonder that this sixteen year old-and no doubt quite a few others- slipped through. Johnnie Nisbet's story is hardly unique. 

John David Nisbet. Private 20/1708 Tyneside Scottish (Northumberland Fusiliers)

Soldiers were not sent off to the front immediately after enlisting, so a period of some months training must have occurred before his going out  to France,and this confirms that he did sign up when underage.If it is correct that the minimum age for  Pals battalions such as the Tyneside Scottish was 19 then something seems seriously wrong here.

I am left wondering what to think of John David's rush to join up and then to die so young. Mostly  I am bemused by this. Quo fata vocant, indeed.

John Nisbet's body was never found and his name is recalled on the Thiepval Memorial.
He probably knew another Longhoughton man-John Kim Butters (20/313)  had  been in the same battalion though he was a bit older. He died  in June of 1916. Both were in the 20th Battalion of the Tyneside Scottish (Northumberland Fusiliers) This was part of  102 Brigade, 34th Division at la Boiselle near Albert.

He would have heard the enormous explosion of the Lochnagar and other associated mines, felt the earth shaking and the  dreadful silence which must have followed and was broken by the whistle for the advance.Did he hear, is there any way he could have actually heard through what must have been an unbelievable cacophony, the sounds of the bagpipes playing as they did? And then did he really advance with his comrades at walking pace in the expectation that the German wire had been cut?

(See also my post about the substantial and very interesting stained glass windows at nearby Lesbury which are the memorial to another local man who died at the Somme and portray the troops going out-7.30 am,1 July 1916. Access it here)