FOR years he kept a detailed diary of his life at the front during the First World War.

That diary has now gone online as part of a special Great War website set up by the City Council.

Robert Lindsay Mackay was born in Glasgow in 1896,

His father, George, was the youngest of 10 children and a woollen buyer for a warehouse.

Robert started his life in Bank Street, in Hillhead, and except for the three years he was at war, lived only half a mile from the gates of Glasgow University until he was 28-years-old.

He attended Willowbank Primary and said of his time there: "I learned every swear word then known and much about the facts of life from my schoolmates."

In 1909 he attended Hillhead High where English literature and poetry became a love he carried throughout his life.

Robert became a Glasgow University student in 1914 but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of war and he enlisted.

He served in the 11th Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, holding the posts of signalling officer, assistant adjutant and platoon officer, eventually achieving the rank of lieutenant.

His diary records the many battles he took part in, including at the Somme and Ypres.

Mr Mackay was a gallant soldier and won the Military Cross.

As a signalling officer he volunteered to go forward after being left without company officers.

He reorganised his men and pressed on to meet a threatened attack, only withdrawing when ordered to do so.

In 1918 his gallantry was recognised again when, under heavy shelling and with communication lines broken, he undertook an intelligence foray on his own, bringing back valuable information.

After the war Mr Mackay returned to Glasgow University and decided to become a doctor,.

He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Mr Mackay was a house surgeon at the Western Infirmary before moving to England to work.

During the Second World War he served his country again, this time as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He died in 1981.

Mr Mackay's war diary lay on a shelf of his home until the 1970s, when a conversation with a neighbour about the Battle of the Somme resulted in him picking up and rereading the fascinating record.

Lord Provost Sadie Docherty said: "With the 100th anniversary of Britain's entry into the war fast approaching, we want to ensure we create a living and online memorial to the men and women of our city who were involved in helping the war effort.

"We hope many Glaswegians will take this opportunity to upload their stories to the Glasgow database.

"It is only by reading the stories of ordinary men and women from Glasgow we can appreciate how ordinary people experience and achieve extraordinary things in war time."

vivienne.nicoll@eveningtimes.co.uk

War diary...one week in April 1917

SUNDAY APRIL 22, 1917

Went round line early with Signalling Corporal Mitchell. No phones allowed forward. Visited Coys. Everything quiet - too quiet in fact. Saw Tobermory Maclean, Wilson and Miller of 'D' Coy. They had had a bad night with shelling. The line was quiet now, and possessed all the advantages of a new line - these are:- no dugouts, no drains, no shelters and a painful obviousness to the enemy.

Visited the Medical Officer at the Farm. Miller of 'B' Coy. wounded by shrapnel. He died later. Final arrangements for communication. Don't like Brigade Scheme. To Bn. HQ at night. Visited Brigade HA Saw, GOC, and had a glass of port at his invitation - drinking to success on the morrow! All hopeful there!

23rd: A Black Monday. The Brigade was to jump off astride the Cambrai Road, which ran diagonally across our front. Scots on left, Argylls on right, with a creeping barrage. An echelon type of attack. Up at 4.30am to see the strafe (from Bn. HQ, about 800 yards behind the front line). Loud and heavy firing. Noticed loud and terribly ominous, quick and heavy retaliation on to our front line - and feared the worst.

Then the usual rumours began. Ferguson of 'A' Coy. back wounded and with bad news. CO would not let me go forward to see what was happening. He allowed Muirhead to go instead. Muirhead got a very bad time of it.

l Our attack was a failure. The barrage was too fast and of the wrong nature and our men were mown down by guns and by MG fire. All the officers except Tobermory, AG Cameron and GH Mitchell were killed or wounded. AG got 500 yards forward and into a gun pit with a few men, where I found him next morning. The Boche counter barrage was down as soon as ours.

l A second attack took place at 8am, but it was useless. Our form of barrage was to make up for the irregularities of our line. It proved impracticable. Our lot suffered tremendous casualties from MG fire. Camerons and Seaforths were in the same position. Royal Scots did well but suffered severely. They were in a more favourable position. Many soldiers lost direction too. Beattie, Farquharson and Willie Wilson killed. Southey and Padre Miller both mortally wounded. Padre Healy wounded, also Ferguson and MacIntyre, all officers. Tyson, our mess waiter, was also killed, poor kid.

l Tobermory came back to report about 3.30pm after the 46th. Brigade had gone through. He was utterly played out, having slaved like a Trojan. Went forward myself and gathered the Battalion together in the darkness. Got 102, all told. No officers. Took men back to Bn. HQ Had to find my way in the darkness, but with the help of my servant and some signalling got them there alright.

24th: Waited for the dawn, and then roamed around, looking for AG and Mitchell. Found them with Bateman, well forward, the latter seriously wounded.

l Battlefield in a terrible mess. Boche used sulphurous and incendiary shells which made things indescribably bad. 46th. Brigade got Blue Line. Our Bn. and Brigade sent back to Brown Line. Trudged back with AG Cameron and Mitchell. Very hungry and tired. Sorley, JG Mitchell, and Capt. Leitch came up as reinforcements. Expect Battalion casualties to be about 300 all told. The Royal Scots hadn't an officer left. Took things easy, trying to sleep in an old Boche dugout. Pretty cold. No word of relief. Felt rather dirty. 3rd. Division are coming up.

25th: Reorganising everybody! Visit from Brigadier, who was in good spirits in spite of the casualties. Only way to look at things! Was this "Another Glorious Victory" in the newspapers at home? 46th. Brigade in the Line. We are to relieve it tonight. Sent off in the afternoon to look for a HQ for the Bn. Got one. Shelled in an artillery dugout. Entrance packed with cordite or some such stuff. They set this on fire. I was out of that dugout before you could say "Wee Willie Winkie".

26th: Round the lines with CO and Muirhead. It took some six hours, hard going. Visited 2nd. Seaforths at Le Bergere Cross Roads, a most poisonous place. Was nearly called to a better, and let's hope, quieter land by some 5.9s which landed on the little bank at the bottom of which I was walking - three yards away - CO and I set a record for the 50 yards sprint.

27th: Did not go round line in the morning. Went round later with McCallum the runner. Saw a company of the Suffolks being blown out of their trenches by a nasty barrage. Lot of sniping. Waited till almost dusk and then risked it across the open. Stayed in line, relieving AG Cameron. Made a shelter with Sorley and spent the night in it. Adjutant of the Suffolks shot accidentally. Raids on our right on the farm in front of us.