George McLaughlan

George arrived at Boulogne with the 11th Battalion on the 13/05/1915. He later joined the 12th Battalion who arrived at Boulogne on the 10/07/1915 and they were part of the 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division. In spring 1916, the Division was involved in German gas attacks near Hulluch (27th - 29th April 1916) and in the defence of the Kink position (11th May 1916). These are among the engagements officially known as the Actions of Spring 1916. the Battle of Pozieres, 23 July – 3 September 1916, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, 15th – 22nd September 1916, in which the Division captured Martinpuich and the Battle of Le Transloy, 1st – 18th October 1916, in which the Division took part in attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt. Battle of Le Transloy : A period of fighting in terrible weather in which the heavy, clinging, chalky Somme mud and the freezing, flooded battlefield became as formidable an enemy as the Germans. The British gradually pressed forward, still fighting against numerous counter-attacks, in an effort to have the front line on higher ground from which the offensive could be renewed in 1917. These were 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. The 15th 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. SEE PHOTOS x 13 FOR THE 12th (SERVICE) BATTALION HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY WAR DIARY. The War Diary states from the 26th - 30th October the Battalion were near the village of Le Sars which lies along the Albert–Bapaume road. George was wounded on the arm at Loos in 1915. ALSO SEE PHOTOS x 16 FOR THE 15th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION BOOK 12th SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 1916 and PHOTOS x 13 FOR THE 15th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION ORDER OF BATTLE (the Division George was with when he died). George's mother went to Central Station to see him return to his unit after his injury at the Battle of Loss in 1915. She was distraught and told her daughter she would never see him again. This was sadly true. I personally laid a Poppy at George's grave in 2010 (see photos). George is also remembered in the St. Augustine's Parish (book). See photos for George's Medal Index Card, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his Headstone Report, his Pension Record, a restored photo of George (kindly donated by Jim Sullivan), the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge, the Stewarts and Lloyds Roll of Honour plaque x 4 (George listed under British Tube Works on the plaque), a map of Le Sars - Gueudecourt Sector Bapaume 1916 and a map of the Battle of the Somme 1916. Finally, see photos for Newspaper clipping from the Coatbridge Express 20/12/1916, Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension (taken by myself July 2023), another photo of George's grave (I personally placed a Poppy there in 2010), Poppies placed at Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension by myself in July 2023 (George's bottom left), Poppy Cross placed by myself in July 2023 (I subsequently moved it to a clearer position) and another photo of Poppy Cross placed at George's grave by myself in July 2023 (see main grave photo too).