Captain Alastair St John Munro WARRAND
1st Battalion Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) attached to 4 Squadron Royal Flying Corps

Date of birth: 12th January 1889
Date of death: 19th March 1915

Died of wounds aged 26
Buried at Lille Southern Cemetery Plot III Row A Grave 2
He was born on the 12th of January 1889 at Polmont in Stirlingshire the youngest son of Thomas Alexander Warrand, tea planter, and Margaret (nee Connal) of Lentran, Bridge of Allan.

He was educated at Stubbington House School, Hampshire from 1900 to 1903 before spending only the final term of 1903 at the King’s School Canterbury. He went on the Army School at Stratford-on-Avon from 1904 to 1906. He was fond of racing, polo, hunting as well as being a keen motorist and horseman.

On the 26th of April 1906 he applied for a place at the Royal Military College Sandhurst and, after completing his training, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) on the 9th of October 1907. From the 10th of April 1912 he was seconded to the 2nd Battalion Nigeria Regiment, West African Field Force. He learned to fly at his own expense with the Vickers Flying School at Brooklands, gaining his Aero Club certificate (number 840) on the 14th of July 1914 in a Vickers biplane.

Following the outbreak of war he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps as a Flying Officer on the 21st of October 1914 and was posted to 4 Squadron. He was promoted to Captain on the 2nd of November 1914.

On the 11th of March 1915 Alastair Warrand was detailed to fly Be2a 487 which was carrying two 100lb bombs on carriers which had been designed and built by the squadron. In the company of two other aircraft this was to be the first night bombing raid ever undertaken by the Royal Flying Corps. The aircraft were fitted with electric light in the cockpit and two signaling lights were to be placed on the ground some five miles apart to help guide the aircraft to the target. The three aircraft took off from Bailleul at 4.45am, their target being a railway junction to the south east of Lille. One aircraft piloted by Captain Barton crashed shortly after takeoff. The two remaining aircraft piloted by Captain Gilbert William Mapplebeck and Alastair Warrand continued but due to thick fog they were forced to descend to see the target. Mapplebeck was forced down and he was taken prisoner but escaped back to England, arriving in London on the 4th of April. Warrand’s aircraft passed the first light on the ground and dropped his bombs twenty minutes later but missed the target, with one landing in a garden near to Lille Hospital and the other destroying a church and a line of telegraph wires.

During the attack his aircraft was hit by anti aircraft fire which forced him to crash land. He was badly wounded by a gunshot wound in the lower part of his right leg and was taken prisoner but was not brought into hospital at Lille until two days later by which time the leg was gangrenous. The surgeons initially decided not to amputate the leg but changed their minds on the 18th of March, scheduling the operation for the following day. He died of his wounds at 3am the following morning in the presence of British nurse, Miss C.D.M. Bellamy. His funeral service was conducted by the Reverend D.F.K. Moore.

His father received the following telegram dated the 14th of March 1915: -

"Regret to inform you that Lieut. A. St J. M. Warrand Royal Highlanders is reported missing."

The German Government passed the following message via the United States Embassy in Berlin; -

"Warrand Alastair, Captain Royal Flying Corps died 19.3.15 in the Kreigslazarett A.7.E.K. Res. Laz. Fenelon. Shot wound in the lower part of the right leg. Buried at Lille."

His father received a further telegram dated the 5th of April 1915: -

"Deeply regret to inform you that it has been officially reported by Lieut. Mapplebeck that Lieut. A. St J. M. Warrand Royal Highlanders died as the result of an aeroplane accident on the 18th March. Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy."

In a letter dated the 30th of April 1915 Gilbert Mapplebeck wrote to his cousin: -

"To Captain D. G. Warrand, Seaforth Highlanders
I have been away in Paris for some days and have only just received your memo. Warrand was brought into Lillie about two days after I entered the town myself. This would be about the 13th as we were brought down on the 11th. His leg was broken, it was thought by a bullet, but I am inclined to think it was done on landing. During the two days in which he was left out gangrene set in, the surgeons decided that amputation was not necessary. On the afternoon of the 18th they decided to amputate on the following morning, as poor Warrand was worse, but at 3.0am on the morning of the 19th he died. These details were given to me by an Englishman in Lille, who had been able to see you cousin. He described him to me fairly accurately, also some things he had with him. I have written in detail to Mrs. Warrand and still have the draft of the letter. If you would care for a copy I shall be pleased to send you one. I hope you will not think the above callously written. I have simply placed the bare facts. There seems to be some idea that he is still alive. But there is no doubt in my mind whatever. We were all awfully fond of Warrand, and miss him terribly. He was always the bravest of the brave."
Gilbert Mapplebeck, Lieut.

He is commemorated on the Bridge of Allan Civic Memorial, at Logie Kirk where there is plaque in his memory which is inscribed "fearless, faced his country's foes". He is also commemorated on the memorials at the Royal Military College Sandhurst and at St Saviour’s Church in Scotland.
 

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