CARLYLE - James (Jim) Daniel Lothian was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1896.
By the age of two, his parents had passed away and he was raised by his grandmother and an aunt and uncle. In 1906, another aunt and uncle returned to Scotland from Canada where they had recently homesteaded.
Together with Lothian and their own son Dan, they returned to Saskatchewan to a farm south of Gainsborough.
Lothian married Florence Clark in 1925 and moved from Gainsborough to Carlyle in 1929. They had eight children, four of whom are still living today.
Lothian passed away in 1968 but before he died, he provided his family with a couple of hand-written diaries. One was titled My Army Life, and was discovered by Marilyn Brady, who is the daughter of Lothian’s daughter Dorothy Brown. The diary was discovered long after it was written.
“This is the story of my army life, written by my own humble self.” Undated but signed, J.D. Lothian.
My Army Life consisted of 16 handwritten pages chronicling Lothian’s time as a soldier. The readings and recollections were fascinating and his loyalty to “King and Country” was pronounced.
“My army life started in 1917-18 and my first barracks was in Regina, Saskatchewan. It ended in Minto barracks, Winnipeg, Manitoba, on June 24, 1919.”
Lothian settled into barracks training but in the spring of 1918 was allowed to go home for a month to help his uncle sow a crop. He returned to Regina for further training and early that summer rode the railway to Nova Scotia.
“About July 15, we left Halifax on a boat named the Cassandra. On the journey to Liverpool, England, we had a daily one-hour boat drill just in case our convoy was attacked by a German submarine.”
From Liverpool, Lothian took the train to Aldershott for their segregation camp. By the end of September, they were ready for combat in France, but most of his regiment caught the flu. While Lothian didn’t, he did come down with the mumps.
The day after being discharged from the hospital, Lothian slipped while running down a hill, severely spraining his ankle. He remained in hospital until November 11, 1918, which was the day the First World War ended. Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, was born.
“I could well remember riding on top of a streetcar for about an hour watching all the parades,” said Lothian. “I could see men coming out of a pub, drinking a glass of whiskey or beer, and walking up to an officer and say, ‘To hell with you, the war is over.’”
Despite Germany surrendering to the Allies, Lothian continued to train in England. In early 1919, he received a pass and was able to visit relatives in Glasgow, Scotland. In April, his entire regiment was told they were being discharged.
“About the middle of June 1919, we sailed for home, and we were sure a happy bunch of soldiers. I had some English pennies in my pocket so thought I would play crown and anchor and likely get rid of them. However, I started to get lucky and in five or 10 minutes I made 20 dollars.”
“We landed in Montreal and took the train to Winnipeg. When I got my discharge, I had a cheque for 300 dollars, so I went to Eaton’s and bought myself a new civilian suit, other clothes, and a pair of dress shoes. When we got off the train in Gainsborough, there was a lot of people at the station to welcome us home again and now my army life was over.”
The writings came from the heart and some of his recollections are too vivid and/or too personal to mention. All the family have copies and they treasure the diaries.
Twenty years later, it was learned that Lothian was as loyal to his country as he was to his family.
“When World War II broke out, I tried to join the army again but as I was working on the railroad, it was considered essential work. So, they wouldn’t take me, and my army life was over for good.”
Lothian also penned The Life of an Orphan, which was also undated but signed. It began with this introduction: “This is being written by me, and is my desire that when completed, I will be able to have eight copies printed, one for each member of my family.” Signed, Dad.
He added, “To all who may happen to read this article, please overlook all errors in spelling, poor grammar and all other mistakes I have made, as I only had a very humble and kind of mixed education. I took part of my schooling in Scotland, and only have a grade V111 education.”
Lothian’s Life of an Orphan article was six chapters long and consisted of over 20 handwritten pages. It chronicled his life history, detailing his school years, his marriage and the move from Gainsborough to Carlyle.
On April 1, 1929, he started working for CP Rail and retired with a pension in 1955 due to failing health. The diary was written in the early 1960s.
Brown, her sister Marilyn and brother Ralph, and in-law Marjorie Lothian gathered around Brown’s dining room table and reminisced about their childhood days. Brown and her brother grew up in the Carlyle residence located on Fifth Street West.
“We were a very poor family. As kids we didn’t get an allowance and started working at odd jobs when we were 13 or 14. The house had two upstairs bedrooms. Marion and I had one room, our six brothers shared the other. My older brother Dan and I used to take Mondays off from school to help with the laundry,” said Brown.
“Florence had her hands full raising eight kids,” added Marjorie Lothian. “I can still see her in her chair rocking back and forth and knitting clothes for her family.” Florence Lothian died from breast cancer in 1965.
Added Ralph: “Dad loved playing cards, watching his sons play ball, and often curled three or four times a week. I remember our first television set; it was a second-hand black and white and purchased around 1960. He really enjoyed watching the World Series.”
