Robert Martin Young

ADDITIONAL FAMILY INFORMATION - From the 1881 Census - Address - 1 Stewarts Land Cliftonhill, Coatbridge - Robert Young aged 28, Marion Young aged 28, Alexander Young aged 3, Robert M Young aged 3, lodger Richard McConnachie aged 43. From the 1891 Census - Address - Main Street 1 Cliftonhill Buildings, Coatbridge - Robert Young aged 38, Marion Young aged 38, Alexander Young aged 13, Robert Young aged 11, Marion Young aged 6, William Young aged 3. Robert (3288) enlisted in the 2/2nd Lowland Field Company, Royal Engineers on the 18th January 1915 in Coatbridge. He landed in Egypt on the 23/06/1915 and was likely to have served with the Company at Gallipoli. Later the 2/2nd Lowland Field Company, 52nd (Lowland) Division changed to the 412th and the 413th Field Company, 52nd (Lowland) Division and whilst serving with them in Palestine he was taken prisoner during a surprise Turkish Attack on the Company around the 16/04/1917 at the Second Battle of Gaza, 17th - 19th April : British forces in Palestine make their second attempt to capture the city of Gaza from the Ottoman army on the 17/04/1917. Though the previous assault had caught the Turks by surprise, the second one did not: the German general in charge of the troops at Gaza, Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein, was by now well aware of British intentions. By the time the British launched their second round of attacks on the 17th April, the Turks had accordingly strengthened their defences and extended their forces along the road from Gaza to the nearby town of Beersheba. Still, as in the First Battle of Gaza, British soldiers outnumbered Turkish troops by a ratio of two to one. Moreover, the British employed eight heavy Mark-1 tanks and 4,000 gas shells (used for the first time on the Palestine front) to ensure victory. The tanks proved unsuitable for the hot, dry desert conditions, however, and three of them were captured by Turkish forces, which again put up a blisteringly effective defence despite their inferior numbers. After three days and heavy losses, the British casualty figure of 6,444 men, was three times that of the Turks. General Archibald Murray's subordinate commander, Sir Charles Dobell, was forced to call off the British attacks, ending the Second Battle of Gaza with the city still firmly in Turkish control. Robert died of chronic enteric fever in captivity on the 4th November 1917 and was buried at Nigde Cemetery, Asia Minor, his body was exhumed and reinterred at the Baghdad (North Gate) Cemetery. Robert is also remembered at the Family Plot in Old Monkland Cemetery (see photos x 3). See photos for Robert's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clipping, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, the CWGC Iraq Roll of Honour x 4, Robert's name in the CWGC Iraq Roll of Honour, his CWGC Grave Registration x 3, his Headstone Report, Robert's Pension Records x 2, the Royal Engineers Cap Badge and British soldiers captured by the Turks in the Second Battle of Gaza in Jerusalem, April 1917.