George Paterson

Killed in Action on the 11/03/1915 at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle

The Battalion were in Ambala, India in August 1914 and were part of the Sirhind Brigade in the 3rd (Lahore) Division. They moved to France via Egypt, landing at Marseilles on the 01/12/1914 (some weeks after the other Brigades of the Division). George arrived in France on the 05/01/1915. George was Killed in Action at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 10th - 13th March 1915 : British First Army mounts first offensive on large scale: costly in terms of casualties but results in capture of Neuve Chapelle. Localised operations continue afterwards. Neuve Chapelle was the first large scale organised attack undertaken by the British Army during the war. It followed the miserable winter operations of 1914-15. More Divisions had now arrived in France and the British Expeditionary Force was now split into two Armies. Neuve Chapelle was undertaken by Sir Douglas Haig's First Army, while subsequent actions were fought by Sir Herbert Smith-Dorrien's Second Army. The attack at Neuve Chapelle was an entirely British affair, the French saying that until extra British divisions could relieve them at Ypres, they had insufficient troops in the area to either extend of support the action. Neuve Chapelle was the first planned British offensive of the war. It demonstrated that it was quite possible to break into the enemy positions ' but also showed that this kind of success was not easily turned into breaking through them. The main lessons of Neuve Chapelle were that the artillery bombardment was too light to suppress the enemy defences; there were too few good artillery observation points; the reserves were too few to follow up success quickly; command communications took too long and the means of communicating were too vulnerable. One important lesson was perhaps not fully understood: the sheer weight of bombardment was a telling factor. Similar efforts in 1915 and 1916 would fall far short of its destructive power. George is listed as 1st BATTALION CONNAUGHT RANGERS on the Coatbridge Memorial. He is also remembered in the St. Augustine's Parish (book) Roll of Honour. See photos for George's Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Le Touret Memorial Panel List, George's Pension Records x 3, his name on the Le Touret Memorial and the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge.