James Kane

James and the 2nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry arrived at Boulogne on the 14/08/1914 and were part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division. The 2nd Signal Company Royal Engineers were also part of the 2nd Division. According to a fellow soldier James and other soldiers were marching to the trenches when a shell burst among them and James was Killed by shrapnel near Port Arthur and Richebourg l'Avoue. The Battle, 15th - 25th May 1915 : The Battle of Festubert was in effect a second phase of the recently failed attack on Aubers Ridge. Once again, the attack would take the form of a pincer attack with two assault frontages: a northern one along the Rue du Bois near Port Arthur and Richebourg l'Avoue, and a southern one at Festubert. SEE PHOTOS x 30 FOR THE 2nd SIGNAL COMPANY ROYAL ENGINEERS WAR DIARY 1st - 17th MAY 1915. JAMES WAS THE ONLY MEMBER OF THE 2nd SIGNAL COMPANY TO BE KILLED ON THE 16th MAY 1915 (see War Diary 30. It also lists the 8 men Wounded and 1 Missing). The 2nd Division, 15th May 1915 - The Night Attack : "Already familiar with the area the 2nd Division, commanded by Major General Henry Horne, had opted to commence the Battle of Festubert with a night assault. The 6th Brigade would attack on the right and the 5th Brigade on the left of a front spanning about 1200 metres. They were supported by the 4th (Guards) Brigade and were to be assisted by the Meerut Division of the Indian Corps covering a further 400 metres on the left. Between the two British and the Garhwal Brigades the number of assaulting troops amounted to about 10,000 men. Opposing them was the 55th Infantry Regiment which had two of its Battalions in the front line and the third in reserve. The Germans were thus outnumbered by about five to one. On the right, the 6th Brigade with the 1/7th Battalion King’s; 1st Battalion Royal Berkshire and 1st Battalion KRRC, managed to walk across and all but up to the German breastwork before the Germans had time to react. As the 5th and Garhwal Brigades began their advance into no man’s land they were scythed down by the alerted defenders. As the first reports of the attack reached Corps Headquarters it was decided to mount a second assault at 03.15 hours (coinciding with the attack by the 7th Division). For the 5th and Garhwal Brigades the dawn attack brought more woe as the soldiers attempted to cross the 300 metres of no man’s land. The Inniskillings had almost been obliterated with 649 casualties, the other three British battalions had all suffered over 300 casualties a piece and the 39th Garhwal Rifles 154 soldiers. The dawn attack by 2nd and Meerut Divisions had failed, the 7th Division was on its own". 2nd Division, 16th May 1915 - Continuing the Battle : By 09.00 hours Lieutenant General Sir Charles Monro commanding I Corps had ascertained that the offensive had stalled leaving a large gap between the two neighbouring Divisions – 2nd to the North and the 7th to the South. It was thus imperative that operations were put into action in order to close the gap down. The 6th Brigade (2nd Division) were therefore to work south-eastwards whilst the 7th Division which had suffered difficulties on its left flank were to make a further effort to link up to the north-east. The manoeuvre was supposed to have begun at 10.00 hours but the 6th Brigade was being so heavily shelled they couldn’t get sufficient supplies forward to undertake an assault". SEE PHOTOS x 30 FOR THE 2nd DIVISION BOOK LATE FEBRUARY - LATE MAY 1915. James was formerly with the 2nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry (10960). He had 7 years of Service. He originally enlisted on the 24th June 1907 with the 3rd Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). James is listed as CORPORAL on the Coatbridge Memorial. James is also remembered on the St. Patrick's Church Roll of Honour (see Coatbridge Express Newspaper clipping). See photos for James' Medal Index Card, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Le Touret Memorial Panel List, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his 1907 Attestation Papers x 4, James' Pension Record, his name on the Le Touret Memorial, his original Regiment the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Cap Badge, his former Regiment the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge and the Royal Engineers Cap Badge. Finally, see photos for the 2nd Division Order of Battle x 12 (the Division he was with when he died), a Poppy placed at James' name on the Le Touret Memorial by myself in July 2023, 8 Poppies placed at the Le Touret Memorial remembering the 8 Royal Engineers men who left from Coatbridge (placed by myself in July 2023) and Newspaper clippings x 3 (Coatbridge Express x 1, Coatbridge Leader x 1 and the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 1).