John Kinnear

Killed in Action on the 13/08/1916 at the Battle of Pozieres (part of the Battles of the Somme)

The Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 10/07/1915 and were part of the 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division. The Battle of Pozieres, 23rd July - 3rd September 1916 : Pozieres was a small, straggling village on the main Albert-Bapaume road. It is situated on high ground that gives the occupier observation southwards along the road towards Ovillers, La Boisselle, Albert and beyond; to the east across to High Wood, Delville Wood and beyond; and westwards to Thiepval. Possession of Pozieres was key to making possible any further advances towards Bapaume, the capture of the Thiepval ridge and the breaking of resistance at High and Delville Woods. The battle for Pozieres and nearby Mouquet Farm became an epic in its own right, with tenacious German defence keeping determined British-Australian attack at bay for several weeks. This was the first large-scale Australian battle in France and proved to be its costliest in terms of total casualties. On the 10/08/1916 the 15th (Division) were given orders to capture the part of the German front line known as the Switch Line from the Bazentin-Martinpuich road to Munster Alley. On the 12th the assault was delivered. The 12th Battalion Highland Light Infantry suffered severely from machine-gun fire. In a few minutes they lost two-thirds of their Officers and a large proportion of men. On the 13th and 14th local operations were continued. Bombing attacks were made by the 45th Brigade on that portion of the Switch Line still held by the enemy. SEE PHOTOS x 23 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY JULY - AUGUST 1916. The Battle of Pozieres was part of the Battles of the Somme, 1st July - 18th November 1916 : A Franco-British offensive that was undertaken after Allied strategic conferences in late 1915, but which changed its nature due to the German attack against the French in the epic Battle of Verdun, which lasted from late February to November. Huge British losses on the first day and a series of fiercely-contested steps that became attritional in nature. For all armies on the Western Front it was becoming what the Germans would call "materialschlacht" : a war not of morale, will or even manpower, but of sheer industrial material might. 15 September 1916 saw the first-ever use of tanks in the step known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The British army in France is now approaching its maximum strength in numbers but is still developing in terms of tactics, technology, command and control. The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. The Memorial also serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial in recognition of the joint nature of the 1916 offensive and a small Cemetery containing equal numbers of Commonwealth and French graves lies at the foot of the Memorial. John is also remembered on the Gartsherrie Works Roll of Honour, Maxwell Parish Church Roll of Honour and the East United Free Church Roll of Honour (see photos). John is also remembered on the Brechin War Memorial (see photos x 2). See photos for John's Medal Index Card, CWGC Grave Registration, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2 and the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge. Finally, SEE PHOTOS x 14 FOR THE 15th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION BOOK 27th JUNE - 17th AUGUST 1916, photos for the 15th (Scottish) Division Order of Battle x 13 (the Division he was with when he died), photos x 3 of John's name on the Thiepval Memorial taken by myself in July 2023 and Newspaper clippings x 6 (Coatbridge Express x 3 and the Coatbridge Leader x 3).