Public Contributions:

Andrew Scott was my Grandfather, born in Hawick Roxburghshire Scotland in 1880, married and emigrated to New Zealand in 1899. He naturalised as a New Zealander and went to fight in France on 27th May... 1916 on the troopship ''Tofua'' He left behind a wife and two sons. [Record since amended - NZWGT] Read More

Submitted by: Allen Scott

Relationship to casualty: Half-nephew

My grandfather was William Scott, father of Andrew Scott. My father was William Rule Scott, half-brother of Andrew. Apparently my grandfather was married two or three times, the last time to my grand...mother (Agnes Young Tait). His first wife , I believe, was Mary Monaghan and the second was apparently called Catherine. I'm not sure which of these latter two wives was the mother of Andrew. I have a letter from Oliver Scott (Andrew's son) telling my grandfather of Andrew's death in World War I. Read More

Submitted by: Allen Scott

Relationship to casualty: Half-nephew

Andrew Scott was the son of William Scott by his first wife Mary (née Monaghan) who died in 1884 in Hawick Scotland. William Scott was also my grandfather by his second wife Agnes (née Tait).

Submitted by: Judith Scott

Relationship to casualty: Andrew Scott was my Grandfather

Andrew died in the Somme on 27th September and is commemorated in the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery. At the time of his death he was the batman for Alexander Atkin, an officer who became recognised fo...r taking his violin to Gallipoli and the Somme. Professor Atkin in his book Gallipoli to the Somme recalled my grandfather looking after his violin as they went into battle. [NZWGT - The violin as now at Otago Boys' High School. "In the evening [16 September 1916?] a tank, well camouflaged in green with touches of brown against the side of King George’s Hill, could be seen crawling slowly, like some pertinacious beetle, up to the line. The 1st Brigade, perhaps because it was the veteran brigade and had fought on Gallipoli, was to take no part in the opening attack, but was to be in reserve. Kits were stacked, including the violin, which now, the special care of my batman Scott, had come thus far and no farther and which, as I have mentioned, I never saw again, nor even expected to see, until it was returned to me almost two years later in New Zealand, packed and forwarded by Hawkes & Co., London, at the order of Cuthbert Parr. Here, then, is the place to return it to Ithaca and, for envoi*, to give the list of names in indelible ink that now covered the baize lining of the case: 8/2524, Indian Ocean, Aden, Suez, Cairo (Zeitoun), Alexandria, Sarpi (Lemnos), Anzac, Apex, Mudros East, Moascar, Suez Canal, Ferry, Ismailia, Port Said, Marseille, Morbecque, Steenbecque, Estaires, Armentières, Wardrecques, Citernes, Airaines, Tirancourt, Coisy, Fricourt. The further travels of the violin, after I had gone, are more vague; but they must certainly have included Messines and Ypres." [* Footnote:"The allusion is to the long journey of Odysseus from the Trojan War to his home in Ithaca. Envoi: in poetry, a stanza of concluding words, commending a message to the reader or summarizing what has gone before."] [Excerpts from: Alexander Aitken, "Gallipoli to the Somme : recollections of a New Zealand infantryman"] Read More