Dr. Lachlan M. V. Mitchell - Biography-1
Dr. Lachlan Mitchell -- Royal Army Medical Corps / Egyptian Campaign -- 1917 Trench Watch
​
​
“...Sohag [Egypt] is still as hot as ever & between two & four I lie in my tent stark naked now, with nothing on but a wristwatch!!”
--- Letter from Lachlan to his Mother, 25th March 1916​​
​
Major Lachlan Martin Victor Mitchell (1887–1956) was a Scottish doctor who bravely served in the British RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps) from 1914-1918. In 1916, his medical unit became part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in their fight against the Ottoman Empire.
​​
While serving in Egypt and Palestine in 1917, Dr. Mitchell scratched the following on the back of his trench watch:
​
“Major L. M. V. Mitchell ~ RAMC TF ~ EEF 1917”
[Major Lachlan Martin Victor Mitchell ~ Royal Army Medical Corps Territorial Force ~ Egyptian Expeditionary Force 1917]
​
Lachlan healed the sick and wounded under terrible wartime conditions. As he told his mother in a Nov 1917 letter, “Have been at it day and night.. I don’t think it would have been possible to have put in longer and harder work….. all the sick and wounded came to us for treatment. Many of them were very severely wounded so you can imagine the periods of anxiety I had. Hospital trains came in at all hours, day and night but the last few have come in at 5.30 or 6 in the morning... "​​​
After the war, Dr. Mitchell returned to Inverness and continued his medical career. In 1920, he married Harriet Doris Riggall, daughter of a well-known Wesleyan Minister and his wife Harriet. They had two children – Harriet Riggall who became a doctor, and James Martin Mitchell who became a Sheriff of Edinburgh
​
Lachlan was a distinguished member of the British Medical Association for over forty years. His 1956 obituary in the British Medical Journal, concluded with “His ready wit, his fun, his vast knowledge, and his love of his fellow men made him an ideal companion, and one who will be sadly missed by those who had the privilege of calling him friend.”
​​
In March 2025, I contacted Lachlan's grandson George Harvey and his wife Barbara in England, and returned Lachlan's trench watch to him. "You never actually own a watch...You merely look after it for the next generation...". After 108 years, Dr. Mitchell's watch is once again home with his family.
Pvt. Paul R. Thomer Biography-1
Paul Thomer's Watch Returned to His Family - Sept 2023
​
On Sept 9, 2023, Pvt. Thomer’s watch was returned to his daughter Deborah and her four siblings, exactly 80 years after Paul purchased it. They will treasure it as a tangible memory of their courageous Dad. Semper Fi.
Pvt. Paul Thomer -- 1942 Guadalcanal Marine & His Watch
​
Private Paul R. Thomer (1923–1992) fought at Guadalcanal as a member of the famed 1st Marine Division. Paul was from Pittsburgh PA, and enlisted in the Marines in January 1942.
​
The 1st Marine Division sailed from San Francisco in June, and landed on the island of Guadalcanal on Aug 7, 1942. This was the first major US amphibious landing of World War II. The invasion ignited a ferocious struggle with Japanese forces, marked by seven major naval battles, numerous clashes ashore, and almost continuous air combat through December 1942.
​
The fighting at Guadalcanal took a terrible toll; the 1st Division suffered 650 killed in action and 1,278 wounded, with a further 8,580 contracting malaria and other diseases. As one Marine recalled, ”the Division suffered 100% casualties, with the dead, wounded, and those sick from malaria, dengue fever, jungle rot, malnutrition and combat fatigue… “.
​
Battle-weary and in poor health following the Guadalcanal campaign, the men of the First Marine Division were shipped to Melbourne Australia for nine months recuperation in January 1943. “They were greeted with warm hospitality; these 15,000 young American men found a home away from home”.
​
On Feb 10, 1943, Paul Thome purchased a steel-cased wristwatch from a local Melbourne jewelry store, and had it engraved “Paul R. Thomer ~ U.S.M.C. ~ 343824 ~ Australia ~ 2-10-43”.
​
The 1st Division returned to combat in the South Pacific in October 1943, leading the December offensive at Cape Gloucester, New Britain. “The action they found there has been described as the toughest man has ever endured.” In July 1944, the 1st Division returned to the US for stateside duty. Paul was honorably discharged in 1945.
​
In 1954, Paul married Frances Mary LaRoche in Pittsburgh; in 1962, they moved to California. Paul and Frances had five children – two sons and three daughters. Paul died on February 16, 1992, and is buried with Frances in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, CA.
​