After a few days in villages close to the front, they started a four-day march that took them to Nouvion-En-Ponthieu, a few miles from the coast.

Their rest ended on February 4 when they began a six-day march to Arras where, over the coming weeks, they took their turn in the front lines and familiarised themselves with area.

The British were planning to attack on a 14-mile front, with objectives up to four miles beyond the German front line. The 51st (Highland) Division was one of 17 divisions (approximately 200,000 infantry) involved and its sector was 3,000 yards wide and faced north at the southern end of Vimy Ridge, before swinging east as it ran around the village of Roclincourt.

The Morayshire Seaforths were to be one of the leading battalions, with their objective being the capture of three lines of German trenches. Each of the trenches was allocated to part of the battalion and they would advance in a series of double waves; once a trench had been captured the following waves would move on to the next. The 5th Seaforth would then pass through and continue the advance.

After intensive training the battalion moved back into the front line on the nights of April 7 and 8. By 3.30am on the 9th, Easter Monday, all were in position and were served a welcome tot of rum and drinks of hot Oxo as they anxiously waited to go 'over the top'.

At 5.25am the order to fix bayonets was given and five minutes later the British artillery bombardment intensified to a crescendo as every gun fired on the German positions. The first waves of Highlanders climbed out of the trenches and closed up behind the barrage; some men were reported to have been only 10 yards from the protective curtain of bursting shrapnel shells.

When the barrage lifted they rushed to the parapet of the German front line and took up firing positions from where they could shoot the enemy as they emerged from their dug-outs. Those on the left and centre had few casualties; however, on the right, some of the enemy had moved into shell holes and were sniping at the advancing Seaforths, causing many casualties, until they were hunted down and killed.

The third and fourth waves continued towards the second line and also made good progress on the left and centre, but German defensive fire was increasing and the battalion was suffering heavy casualties. Despite the right flank being badly hampered by enemy machine-guns and snipers, they managed to capture the second line after 20 minutes of very hard fighting.

In a letter to his mother, Private William Mackay wrote: "We made a very successful advance early on Monday morning. Our artillery made very good work. We drove them back a long way. Our platoon, along with another platoon, took the second line. I suppose you will get the full report in the papers by now.

"It was a very exciting time; it was my first experience of 'over the bags' as we call it. Our platoon was very lucky, we had very few casualties; we lost our platoon officer and we miss him very much."

The final two waves, trying to advance to the German third line, were brought to a halt by machine-guns. Second Lieutenant James Spence, Garmouth, led a party that fought their way along a communication trench to the German third line and established a foothold deep in the enemy defences at about 6am, but it took another three hours of fighting to overcome all resistance.

On the left, Second Lieutenant Read led a group that attacked and silenced a machine-gun. On the right, all the battalion's officers had been killed or wounded, leaving the NCOs to lead the men forward. With the Morayshire battalion finally in possession of the third line, they began to consolidate the captured positions and also provided support for the 5th Seaforth, who were continuing the advance and fought on until securing their own objectives in the mid-afternoon.

Casualties were heavy and the Battalion War Diary records that 142 were killed, 176 wounded and two missing. Almost every community in Morayshire had lost men and the small village of Hopeman suffered particularly with Robert and William McPherson and George Stronach killed.

Two stories serve as a tribute to the bravery and comradeship shown at Roclincourt. When one of Sergeant Charles Mackenzie's men was bayoneted he stood over him to protect him until he was also overcome and killed.

Charles Mackenzie was a pre-war territorial who mobilised with the battalion in August 1914. When undergoing treatment for an earlier wound, doctors at Dr Gray's Hospital, Elgin, had wanted to amputate his arm but he refused, and not only managed to keep his arm but got himself fit enough to rejoin the battalion. He was killed just a few weeks later.

The second story is of Corporal John Baxter, Fochabers, who worked in the family shop in Spey Street. He was remembered as 'a quiet chap who served the ladies of the village with their grocery requirements diligently and with a smile'. During the attack, Baxter was badly wounded by shrapnel but his good friend, Bob Keiro, was able to comfort him with a last cigarette as he lay dying on the battlefield.

These two men are now among the 95 Morayshire Seaforths buried close to where they fell in the Highland Cemetery, Roclincourt.

The opening of the Battle of Arras was hailed as a great success, but German resistance hardened and by its end six weeks later the British casualty rate was higher than for any other battle of the war, averaging more than 4,000 men per day killed, wounded or missing.

The final resting place of 95 Morayshire Seaforths killed on April 9, 1917 is the Highland Cemetery, Roclincourt.

* Derek Bird is chairman of the Scotland (North) Branch of The Western Front Association and is also the author of The Spirit of the Troops is Excellent: The 6th (Morayshire) Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders, in the Great War 1914-1919.

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