The Battalion arrived at Le Havre on the 14/08/1914 and were part of the 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Division. On the 25/08/1815 they transferred to the 2nd Guards Brigade, Guards Division. George arrived in France on the 04/10/1915 and was Killed in Action on the opening day of the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, 15th - 22nd September 1916 : This was a large-scale general renewal of the offensive after the weeks of attritional fighting for the third German system at Pozieres, High Wood, Delville Wood, Guillemont and Ginchy. It is historically noteworthy for being the first time that tanks were used in battle. Few in number, mechanically unreliable and as yet without proven tactics for their best use, the small numbers of tanks that actually went into action had an important positive effect. High Wood and Delville Wood were finally cleared and a deep advance was made to Flers and towards Combles. The Canadian Corps entered the Somme fighting for the first time. Lesboeufs was attacked by the Guards Division on the 15th September 1916 and captured by them on the 25th. George was Killed during the attack towards Leboeufs where some of the fiercest hand to hand fighting took place. This 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. 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. George's death was not confirmed until August 1917. Extra grave photo kindly donated by Mick McCann at the British War Graves website who supply photos FREE OF CHARGE
here. George is also remembered on the Coatbridge Baptist Church Roll of Honour along with his nephew George also (see photos) and in the St. Augustine's Parish (book) Roll of Honour. George was reburied in Guards Cemetery (see photos). See photos for George's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clippings x 2, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his Headstone Report x 2, another photo of George's grave, Guards' Cemetery, George's Pension Records x 2, the London press advertisement from the 12/10/1916 showing the British army used tanks for the first time in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. Developed in great secrecy, they came as a surprise to the Germans and British troops alike, map of the area of the Somme Battles from the 1st July to the 18th September and the Scots Guards Cap Badge. George's grave inscription reads "FONDLY REMEMBERED".
