Lieutenant Ewart Alan Mackintosh MC (4 March 1893 – 21 November 1917) was a

war poet War poetry is poetry on the topic of war. While the term is applied especially to works of the First World War, the term can be applied to poetry about any war, including Homer's ''Iliad'', from around the 8th century BC as well as poetry of th ...

and an officer in the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

from December 1914. Mackintosh was killed whilst observing the second day of the second Battle of Cambrai, 21 November 1917. His best poetry has been said to be comparable in quality to that of

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.) was an En ...

Life

Ewart Alan Mackintosh was born on 4 March 1893, the only son of Alexander Mackintosh and his wife, Lilian Rogers. Although he was born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, his father's roots went back to

Clan Mackintosh Clan Mackintosh (''Clann Mhic an Tòisich'') is a Scottish clan from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The chiefs of the clan are the Mackintoshes of Mackintosh. Another branch of the clan, the Mackintoshes of Torcastle, are the chiefs of Cl ...

Alness Alness (, ; ) is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. It lies near the mouth of the River Averon, near the Cromarty Firth, with the town of Invergordon to the east, and the village of Evanton to ...

in Ross. His maternal grandfather was the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

preacher

James Guinness Rogers James Guinness Rogers (29 December 1822 – 20 August 1911), was a British Nonconformist clergyman. Education Rogers was born at Enniskillen, Ireland in 1822, where his Cornish-born father Thomas Rogers (1796–1854) was an Irish Evangeli ...

. He said that it was because of his grandfather's friendship with British Prime Minister,

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, that he was given his first name. He studied locally at

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

whilst also studying

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

and learning to play the Highland war pipes during the holidays. He continued his studies at St Paul's School in London and then studied Classics at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. Mackintosh, who was a member of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Officers' Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

, tried to join the army immediately after war broke out in August and while still in his university course. He was rejected on the grounds of his poor eyesight. He reapplied and was accepted by the

, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 31 December 1914. He served with the 5th (The Sutherland and Caithness Highland) Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders (a

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

unit), which was part of

51st (Highland) Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France during the World War I, First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was ra ...

with Captain David Sutherland M.C. who subsequently published a war diary based on his reports to the

John O'Groat Journal North of Scotland Newspapers (NOSN) is the trade name under which Scottish Provincial Press publishes two weekly newspapers, the ''John O'Groat Journal'' and the ''Caithness Courier'', both serving the Caithness area in the Highland council area o ...

. He returned to Britain in August 1915 after being wounded in

High Wood The Attacks on High Wood, near Bazentin le Petit in the Somme ''département'' of northern France, took place between the British Fourth Army and the German 1st Army during the Battle of the Somme. After the Battle of Bazentin Ridge on 14 Ju ...

on the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

. He was stationed near

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

for eight months during which time he was training cadets and he became engaged to Sylvia Marsh who was from a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

family. On 16 May he led a trench raid near

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

where fourteen of his men were wounded and two were killed. One of them, David Sutherland, inspired a poem " In Memoriam". Mackintosh was now a temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

and he received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

on 24 June 1916. His citation in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

'' reads: Mackintosh had been trying to bring Sutherland, who had lost a number of limbs, back to the trenches. Sutherland died of his wounds and had to be left; he has no known burial place, but is commemorated on the

Arras Memorial The Arras Memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located in the Faubourg d'Amiens British Cemetery, in the western part of the town of Arras. The memorial commemorates 35,942 soldiers of the forces of the United Kingdom, South Africa and ...

. At the age of 23, Mackintosh regarded himself as a father to his men, and they affectionately called him "Tosh". Sutherland was a Scot, but many of Mackintosh's other charges were from New Zealand. One of Mackintosh's final poems, '' Cha Till Maccrimmein'', appears to foretell his own death. Mackintosh was killed in action on the second day of the Battle of Cambrai, 21 November 1917, whilst with the 4th Seaforth Highlanders. He was there observing the heavy action near the village of Cantaing. Cambrai was noteworthy in using new tactics including the first mass use of tanks. He was buried in the Orival Wood Cemetery near

Flesquières Flesquières () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department *Marcel Gaumont Marcel Gaumont was a French sculptor born on 27 January 1880 in Tours. He died in Paris on ...

in northern France.

Legacy

His poetry has been said to have been as good as the more famous war poet

. Lines from his poem "A Creed" are used on "The Call 1914"; the Scottish American Memorial in Edinburgh's

Princes Street Gardens Princes Street Gardens are two adjacent public parks in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and building of the New Town, ...

when it was installed in 1927. The memorial was paid for by Scottish Americans to commemorate the bravery of the Scottish soldiers of the Great War. A small ceremony took place in France on the 90th anniversary of Mackintosh's death and there were plans to dedicate a chapel to him and his regiment.

Works

*'' A Highland Regiment and Other Poems'', 1917 *'' War, The Liberator, and Other Pieces'', London, John Lane; New York, John Lane company, 1918.

About Mackintosh

*''Can't Shoot a Man with a Cold: Lt. E. Alan Mackintosh MC 1893 – 1917 Poet of the Highland Division'', Colin Campbell and Rosalind Green

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackintosh, Ewart Alan 1893 births 1917 deaths Scottish World War I poets 20th-century Scottish male writers Scottish male poets English people of Scottish descent People educated at Brighton College People educated at St Paul's School, London Writers from Brighton Military personnel from Brighton Seaforth Highlanders officers British military personnel killed in World War I Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I