Current Information:

Age-19

59, Ridgemount Gardens, Bloomsbury

Loos British Cemetery, France

The Battle of Loos, fought by the British Army from 25^th September, 1915 through to 13^th October, was conducted along a six-and-a-half-mile front running north from the mining village of Loos on the outskirts of Lens in Northern France. It was the largest offensive carried out by the British so far in the war. The opening day involved an attack by six divisions, with others entering the fray as it progressed and it was part of a much wider offensive with the French launching their own attacks in Champagne and at Vimy. It was the first time that the British used gas during the war, despite their condemnation of the Germans for doing the same in April 1915. There were some encouraging results on the first day but no major breakthrough was achieved and in the successive days the offensive became mired in trench warfare. By mid-October the battle had petered out with the British having suffered over 60,000 casualties during its course.

1^st Division attacked along 1400 yards of front from a point opposite the Loos Road Redoubt to the Vermelles-Hulluch road.  Jumping off trenches had been dug 300 yards in front of British line but the German trenches were still 300-400 yards off and on the other side of the crest of the Grenay ridge.  To gain visibility, the Germans had run out saps and manned them with machine guns.  At 5.50am on 25^th September, 1915, a heavy British bombardment commenced and the gas cloud of chlorine was released.  1 and 2 Brigades made the attack and as the two Brigades would be attacking on divergent lines, an independent force made up from the fifth battalion of both Brigades, 14^th London(London Scottish) from 1 Brigade & 9^th Liverpool (Kings) from 2 Brigade, and known as  Green’s Force, was to fill the gap.  The attack would then continue on the German second line and would be supported by 3 Brigade and in co-operation with 15^th Division to the south. Shortly after 8.00am 3 Brigade began moving up but because the communication trenches were so full of gassed and wounded men they had advance in the open and were easy targets for the enemy. Not surprisingly they only made slow progress . 2^nd Royal Munster Fusiliers had a mile to cover above ground and suffered many casualties whilst doing so and only a few of their number reached Gun Trench.  Later 2^nd Welsh had moved forward unopposed across the now deserted German front line and arrived at Gun trench at 2pm.  The two leading companies were unscathed but the support companies had 150 casualties from German machine gun fire.  2^nd Welsh wheeled right towards the crossroads and the right flank of 1 Brigade which brought them behind the German trenches at Bois Carre.  Although they were fired on by the Germans manning the parados of the support trench they kept moving and at 2.30pm  over 160 Germans in the support trench surrenderedto them.  2^nd Welsh continued on to the Lens road.  1^st South Wales Borderers, following behind 2^nd Welsh, also went into the German support trench and then moved up to the Lens road.   1^st Gloucestershire were sent to assist 2 Brigade but because 2 Brigade was so shattered the outflanking move they were supposed to carry out was called off. Nevertheless 1^st Gloucestershire suffered their share of casualties as they moved up.