Presentation in memory of WWI casualties at Mackays Hotel in Wick was '100 years in the making'
An "emotionally charged" presentation took place during an international gathering of Clan Sutherland at Mackay’s Hotel in Wick.
The June 9 event was part of an official International Clan Gathering of Clan Sutherland and described as "more than 100 years in the making".
In 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the start of WWI, across the UK more than 800,000 ceramic poppies were displayed in locations like the Tower of London. Between 2014 and 2018 the people of Flanders in Belgium embarked on a similar commemoration when thousands of ordinary Belgians collectively produced 600,000 small clay figurines, each one representing a fallen soldier in WWI.
The Clan Sutherland Society of Scotland’s European branch, based in Belgium, meets with other Belgian based clan societies each year to commemorate the fallen from WWI with a ceremony at the Menin Gate at Ypres. The clans take it in turn to highlight fallen service personnel from their clan.
In 2021 it was the turn of Clan Sutherland and among those remembered were Private William Sutherland from Lybster and Private Daniel Sutherland from Wick. They were two pals who were stretcher bearers and while removing a wounded comrade from the front line, all three were killed when a shell hit them. In 2021 it had been hoped that representatives of the Regimental Museum at Fort George plus a descendant from Pte Daniel Sutherland’s family could be present at Ypres for the ceremony. Sadly, Covid-19 restrictions got in the way.
Philippe Blommé the co-convenor of the Clan Sutherland Society European Branch purchased a number of the Belgian clay figurines in the name of fallen Sutherland soldiers. He also researched the story of William and Daniel and visited the location of their original burial, collecting a small jar of earth from there.
Then, on June 9 at Mackay’s Hotel, Philippe and colleagues were able to meet Daniel (Dane) Sutherland, his wife Johan (Jo) and nephew John Webster and bring the spirit of Pte Daniel Sutherland home to Wick and to the family who had never forgotten his heroism.
Philippe said: "Since the figurines were linked to two Scottish soldiers named Daniel and William Sutherland, both enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders, the symbolism of the handing over of the figurines is that these two lads are now finally returning to their homeland.
"These two boys have a special story. During a walk through Flanders Fields, where I live, I visited the Artillery Wood Cemetery in Boezinge to see if Sutherlands were buried there. I found that two were buried next to each other. After some research and thanks to David Bews who put me in touch with a relative of Private Daniel Sutherland, a special story came to light.
"Both come from the same region, Wick and Lybster. Both were stretcher bearers. Both were in the same battalion, the 1st/5th Bn Seaforth Highlanders, and both died on the battlefield on the same day with the same bombshell."
Daniel is the nephew of Pte Daniel and was named in his honour. Philippe presented him with the clay figurine, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission certificate, a pack including an explanation of the Flanders project and map showing the exact location where Pte Daniel died plus the jar containing the earth collected from the original burial site.
Jo Sutherland who is a noted local artist, in turn presented Philippe with a painting of a poppy which Philippe is to present to Talbot House in Poperinge. At Talbot House many service personal sought refuge and peace when stood down from the trenches. Jo donated another copy of the painting to the museum in Ypres a couple of years ago. It was reported that there was "hardly a dry eye in the room" when the presentation took place.
