Walter Rice

Walter and the Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 12/05/1915 and were part of the 28th Brigade, 9th (Scottish Division). On the 14/05/1916 they transferred to the 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division and amalgamated with 11th (Service) Battalion to form the 10/11th Battalion. The Battle of Loos 25th September to the 15th October 1915 : The first genuinely large scale British offensive action but once again only in a supporting role to a larger French attack in the Third Battle of Artois. British appeals that the ground over which they were being called upon to advance was wholly unsuitable were rejected. The battle is historically noteworthy for the first British use of poison gas. The opening day of The Battle of Loos : Zero hour was fixed for 05.50 a.m. On the left of the Division were the 10th Highland Light Infantry and the 6th King's Own Scottish Borderers were on the right. At 06.30 they advanced in 3 lines against the German trenches. The 10th Highland Light Infantry : As the wind was too weak to carry the gas forward from the trenches many of the men were suffering from the effects of it when they left the front line. At the very start the ranks of the Battalion were thinned by a storm of shell, rifle and machine-gun fire, a considerable amount being killed or wounded. The men pushed on but we unable to penetrate the enemy's wire. Before vicious machine-gun fire from Madagascar Trench, Railway Work and Mad Point the attack melted away and most of the survivors struggled back to the trenches none of whom had broken through the German wire. SEE PHOTOS x 6 FOR THE 10th (SERVICE) BATTALION WAR DIARY ON THE 25/09/1915. THE BATTALION CASUALTIES ON THE 25/09/1915 (NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS + MEN) - "A" COMPANY : 29 KILLED, 66 MISSING, 45 WOUNDED, 22 GASSED (TOTAL = 162), "B" COMPANY : 66 KILLED, 70 MISSING, 33 WOUNDED, 6 GASSED (TOTAL = 175), "C" COMPANY : 28 KILLED, 46 MISSING, 46 WOUNDED, 7 GASSED (TOTAL = 127), "D" COMPANY : 37 KILLED, 17 MISSING, 50 WOUNDED, 9 GASSED (TOTAL = 113). TOTAL : 160 KILLED, 199 MISSING, 174 WOUNDED, 49 GASSED = 577. OFFICERS - HQ : 1 KILLED, 1 WOUNDED, 1 GASSED, "A" COMPANY : 4 KILLED, "B" COMPANY : 3 KILLED, "C" COMPANY : 2 WOUNDED, "D" COMPANY : 1 KILLED, 2 WOUNDED. TOTAL : 9 KILLED, 5 WOUNDED, 1 GASSED = 15. The Battalion history states - "the 10th Highland Light Infantry suffered from our own gas before the attack, at the very start the ranks of the Battalion were thinned by a storm of shell, rifle and machine-gun fire, a considerable number being killed on the parapet". Scottish Regiments lost a huge amount of brave men at Loos. Here is a list of Infantry Battalions who lost more than 500 men at the Battle of Loos from 25/09/1915 to 16/10/1915 - 7th Cameron Highlanders 687, of which 19 Officers, 9th Black Watch 680, of which 20 Officers, 6th King's Own Scottish Borderers 650, of which 20 Officers, 10th HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY 648, of which 20 Officers, 7th King's Own Scottish Borderers 631, of which 20 Officers, 8th Devons 619, of which 19 Officers, 8th Royal West Kents 580, of which 24 Officers, 8th Buffs 558, of which 24 Officers, 12th Highland Light Infantry 553, of which 23 Officers, 8th Black Watch 511, of which 19 Officers, 5th North Staffordshire 505, of which 20 Officers, 8th Seaforth Highlanders 502, of which 23 Officers. Walter was another of the many men from the Coatbridge Memorial Killed in Action on the opening day of the Battle of Loos. He was 1 of 99 men from the Coatbridge Memorial who fell during and from injuries from the Battle of Loos. Walter was a member of Loyal Orange Lodge 31, Coatbridge District 22. His elder brother Private William Rice (7257) of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers Died of Wounds on the 14/10/1916 aged 31 and is buried in Grove Town Cemetery (I. L. 31), Meaulte, France. His Grave inscription reads "SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS". Both brothers are remembered on the Banbridge War Memorial (see photos). See photos for Walter's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clippings x 2, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Loos Memorial Panel List, his name on the Loos Memorial, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, Walter and his brother William listed on the 1901 Ireland Census, Walter and his brother listed on the Ireland Casualties WW1, both brothers listed on 3 Pension Records and the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge. Finally, Walter's brother William's Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his Headstone Report x 2, his photo on a Newspaper clipping, Grove Town Cemetery Meaulte, France, the Royal Irish Fusiliers Cap Badge and William's grave in Grove Town Cemetery x 2. Finally, Walter's brother William was also born in Seapatrick, Co. Down and he enlisted in the 1st Battalion Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers) in Lurgan, Co. Armagh. William Died of Wounds on the 14/10/1916 at the No.34 Casualty Clearing Station, Grove Town, Somme. The Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 23/08/1914 and were part of the 10th Brigade, 4th Division. William received his wounds at the Battle of Le Transloy, 1st - 18th October 1916 : 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 counterattacks, in an effort to have the front line on higher ground from which the offensive could be renewed in 1917. This was part of the Battles of the Somme, 1st July - 18th November 1916.