John Laurie Copland

Killed in Action on the 07/11/1918 in the capture of Dourlers village

John is listed as arriving in the Balkans on the 10/07/1915 (his Medal Index Card). The Battalion landed at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, on the 07/08/1915 and were part of the 31st Brigade, 10th (Irish) Division. On the 02/05/1918 they left the Division and moved to France. On the 07/06/1918 they were transferred to 43rd Brigade, 14th (Light) Division. On the 18/06/1918 they transferred to 103rd Brigade, 34th Division. On the 29/06/1918 they transferred to Lines of Communication. On the 16/07/1918 they transferred to 151st Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division. John was Killed in Action during the Final Advance in Picardy : 17th October - 11th November 1918. The hardest fought of the final offensive actions. First, Third and Fourth Armies exploited their success in breaking the Hindenburg Line by pushing on across the Rivers Selle and Sambre, recapturing Valenciennes and finally in liberating Mons, where it had all begun for the British Expeditionary Force more than four years before. Dourlers village was in German hands during almost the whole of the First World War. It was taken on the 7th November 1918, after heavy fighting, by the 6th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 1st Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. SEE PHOTOS x 5 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY NOVEMBER 1918. The War Diary states the casualties from the 31st October - 8th November were : "Officers Wounded and Missing 1, Wounded at Duty 2, Wounded 5. Other Ranks Killed 30, Wounded and Missing 2, Missing 2, Wounded 152". John is listed as COPELAND and 5th BATTALION on the Coatbridge Memorial (also Copeland on the 1891 Census and one Medal Index Card). John was an enthusiastic member of the Bellshill Cricket Club and was also well-known in junior football circles. John was back in Coatbridge on furlough 10 days before the Armistice was signed and was only 4 days back in France when he was killed. He served for almost the entirety of the war, 4 years and 3 months. A big thank you to Maralee Thomson for family information and the photos of John's mother Deborah and his sister Elizabeth. John is listed as aged 32 in the Newspaper clippings but aged 30 on his CWGC Grave Registration, his Grave and Census Records (see photos). John is also remembered on the Coats Parish Church Roll of Honour (see photos). See photos for John's Medal Index Card x 2, another photo of John's Grave, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects x 2, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, another photo of John's Grave, the Royal Inniskilling Cap Badge, John's Pension Records x 2, Dourlers Communal Cemetery Extension, John's Headstone Report x 2, John's brother Hamilton's Medal Index Card and his Service Medal and Award Rolls. Finally, see photos for Newspaper clippings x 4 (Coatbridge Express x 3 and Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 1), PHOTOS x 7 FOR THE 50th (NORTHUMBRIAN) DIVISION BOOK OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 1918 and the 50th (Northumbrian) Division Order of Battle x 13 (the Division John was with when he died).