William Dickie Andrew

The 15th (Service) Battalion Royal Scots (1st Edinburgh) arrived at Le Havre on the 08/01/1916 and were part of the 101st Brigade, 34th Division when William fell. William arrived in France on the 06/09/1915 with the 1/1st Lothians and Border Horse. He was commissioned to 2nd Lieutenant, 15th (Service) Battalion Royal Scots on the 29/05/1917. William was Killed in Action at Croisilles during the Battle of St. Quentin, 21st - 23rd March 1918. This was the opening phase of the 1st Battles of the Somme, 21st March - 5th April 1918 : After transferring very large forces from the now-collapsed Eastern Front, the German Army commits to a series of large-scale offensives. The first, Operation Michael, strikes the British Fifth and Third Armies. A deep advance is made and inflicts large losses, although the second phase, Operation Mars, at Arras on the 28th March, is soon held. In the crisis, the Allies decide at Doullens to appoint French General Foch as co-ordinator, and soon enough, as Generalissimo. Before enough French and British reserves are finally assembled to hold the German advance before it captures the critical railway junctions at Amiens. On the 11th November 1917, the German High Command decided to make a decisive attack in the west in the following Spring. Their target was the destruction of the British Army. They believed that the British were exhausted by the four major efforts in 1917 (Arras, Messines, Passchendaele and Cambrai). By mid-February 1918, the Germans had moved many Divisions from the now collapsed Eastern front to the West. It was believed by British intelligence that the Germans now had 177 Divisions in France and Flanders, out of their world-wide total of 241. Of these, 110 were in the front line, of which 50 faced the relatively short but recently extended British front. A further 67 were in reserve, with 31 of these also facing the BEF. By late 1918, the manpower advantage enjoyed by Germany would be gone as the American forces slowly built up to strength. The time to strike was now: it would win the war; it was to be the "Kaiserschlacht" (Kaiser's Battle). SEE PHOTOS x 4 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY FOR MARCH 1918 and PHOTOS x 29 FOR THE 34th DIVISION BOOK MARCH 1918. William is listed as ANDREWS on the Memorial. Previously a Trooper with the Lothians and Border Horse. He is also remembered on the Linlithgow Academy and Carriden Church of Scotland Rolls of Honour and on the Bo'ness War Memorial and at the Family Plot in Carriden Church Graveyard in Bo'ness (see photos). See photos for Williams Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, information on the National Probate Index 1919, his name on the Arras Memorial, his former Regiment the Lothian and Borders Horse Cap Badge and the Royal Scots Cap Badge, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Arras Memorial Panel List and his Service Medal and Award Rolls. Finally, see photos for a picture of Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery / Arras Memorial I took in July 2023 (my partner Linda is in this picture), 2 Poppies placed at William's name on the Arras Memorial, the 34th Division Order of Battle x 15 (the Division who he was with when he died) and William's name on the Arras Memorial kindly donated by my friend in France, Thierry Dericbourg.