Private Andrew Aitken

Andrew Aitken

Service Number: 14989

Rank: Private

Force: British Army

Regiment: Highland Light Infantry

Age: 27

Date of Birth: 5/10/1888

Birthplace:

Old Monkland, Coatbridge

Birth Country: Scotland

Residence Country: Scotland

Residence:

66 North Square, Coatbridge

Cemetery: Serre Road Cemetery No.1, Pas de Calais

Andrew's Main Grave photo July 2023

Memorial Statistics

Age at Death

Memorial avg: 26.3 years (+0.7)

Rank

Private

362 on memorial (65.5%)

Occupation

Joiner/Carpenter

4 on memorial (0.7%)

Associated Military Units

Military units this soldier served with. Click to view unit details, battles, and other soldiers who served.

Divisions

32nd Division View

Brigades

97th Brigade View

Regiments

Highland Light Infantry View

Battalions

16th (Service) Battalion (2nd Glasgow) View

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Medal Index Card, Service Medals & Award Rolls

Medal Index Card

Andrew's Service Medal and Award Rolls (1)

Andrew's Service Medal and Award Rolls (2)

Cap Badge

Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge

Enlistment Details

Date of Enlistment

3/9/1914

Enlistment Location

Location: Baird Town Hall, Coatbridge

Country: Scotland

War Diary Entries

16th (Service) Battalion Highland Light Infantry

July 1 1916

1st July 1916 - The 16th (Service) Battalion H.L.I. (Highland Light Infantry) with 25 Officers and 755 other ranks, relieved the 2nd Battalion K.O.Y.L.I. (King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) on the n…

Source: National Archives

Family Information

Son of Andrew Aitken ( - 16/02/1923) and Mary Leishman Aitken (30/10/1856 - 21/07/1943) of 66 North Square, Gartsherrie, Coatbridge. Andrew and Mary were married on the 03/12/1875.

Andrew had 5 brothers also serving with the colours:

Lance Corporal James Aitken, Service Number - S/3406, 2nd Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (Killed in Action 25/09/1918)
Sergeant Robert Andrew Aitken, Service Number - MS/1211 (Mechanical Specials), Royal Army Service Corps (survived and transferred to Class Z Army Reserve on Demobilization on the 07/03/1919). Robert was born in 1880 in Lamplugh, Copeland Borough, Cumbria, England and died on the 02/03/1942.
Sergeant Alexander Aitken, Service Number - 6013, 8th (Service) Battalion King's Own Royal Rifles (survived and discharged 02/01/1919).
2nd Corporal David Aitken, Service Number - 1422/412019, Royal Engineers (survived and discharged 08/08/1917). David died on the 14/01/1922.
Sapper John Aitken, Service Number - 2231/412065, Royal Engineers (survived and discharged 18/12/1918).

Andrew's elder brother Lance Corporal James Aitken of the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was Killed in Action on the 25/09/1915 on the opening day of the Battle of Loos.

Andrew's father received a letter from King George V thanking him for the family's contribution to the war. All brothers were members of the local swimming club and Andrew's great niece Lesley Aitken was a pupil at Coatbridge High School in the 1980's. His mother Mary was a native of Condorrat, North Lanarkshire. The Battalion was often known by its original title of the Glasgow Boys Brigade Battalion.

A huge thanks to Scott Fisher and his young son Archie who sent me pictures from their visit to Scott's Great Great Uncles Andrew and his brother James' graves on the 01/08/2020. They collected soil from both their relatives graves and will be returning it to the Family Plot in Old Monkland Cemetery.

Andrew's Pension was awarded to his sister, Miss Mary Leishman Aitken on the 12/12/1916. Mary was born on the 19/12/1890 and died on the 24/06/1972.

Family Photos & Documents

The 1891 Census

Andrew's parents Marriage Certificate

Archie Fisher (relative) at Andrew's Grave

Four of the Aitken brothers

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Robert Aitken

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Robert Aitken's Service Record (1)

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Robert Aitken's Service Record (2)

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Robert Aitken's Service Record (3)

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Robert Aitken's Service Record (4)

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Robert Aitken's Service Record (5)

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Robert Aitken's Medal Index Card

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Robert Aitken's Service Medal and Awards

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Alexander Aitken

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Alexander Aitken's Medal Index Card

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Alexander Aitken's Service Medal and Award Rolls (1)

Andrew's elder brother Sergeant Alexander Aitken's Service Medal and Award Rolls (2)

Andrew's elder brother Sapper John Aitken's Medal Index Card

Andrew's elder brother Sapper John Aitken's Service Medal and Award Rolls

Andrew's younger brother 2nd Corporal David Aitken's Medal Index Card

Andrew's younger brother 2nd Corporal David Aitken's Service Medal and Award Rolls

Census Records

1901 Census

174 and 175 North Square, Gartsherrie, Coatbridge

Name	Age	Relationship	Occupation	Birth Date
Mary Aitken	44	Mother	—	30/10/1856
James Aitken	22	Brother	Welder	21/12/1878
Robert Aitken	21	Brother	Engine Fitter (Apprentice)	1880
John Aitken	16	Brother	Blacksmith (Apprentice)	1885
Mary Aitken	10	Sister	Scholar	—
David Aitken	8	Brother	Scholar	—
Katie (Catherine) Aitken	14	Sister	—	—
Andrew Aitken	12	Brother	Scholar	5/10/1888

1891 Census

174 North Square, Gartsherrie, Coatbridge

Name	Age	Relationship	Occupation	Birth Date
Andrew Aitken	41	Father	Engine Fitter	—
Mary Aitken	34	Mother	—	30/10/1856
Elizabeth Aitken	16	Sister	—	—
James Aitken	12	Brother	Printer's Message Boy	21/12/1878
Robert Aitken	10	Brother	Scholar	—
Alexander Aitken	8	Brother	Scholar	—
John Aitken	6	Brother	Scholar	—
Catherine (Katie) Aitken	4	Sister	Scholar	—
Andrew Aitken	2	—	—	5/10/1888
Mary Aitken	3 months	Sister	—	19/12/1890

1881 Census

15 Korkland, Whitehaven, Cumberland

Name	Age	Relationship	Occupation	Birth Date
Andrew Aitken	31	Father	Engine Fitter	—
Mary Aitken	24	Mother	—	30/10/1856
Elizabeth	4	Sister	—	—
James Aitken	2	Brother	—	21/12/1878
Robert Aitken	9 months	Brother	—	—

Details of Death

Killed in Action on the 01/07/1916 at the Battle of Albert (opening phase of the Battles of the Somme)

Date of Death: 1/7/1916

Location:

The Battle of Albert (opening phase of the Battles of the Somme)

Country: France

Cause of Death: Killed in Action

Remembered at Home

Coats Parish Church Roll Of Honour

Coatbridge Technical College Roll of Honour

Gartsherrie Works Roll of Honour (1)

Gartsherrie Works Roll of Honour (2)

Andrew listed on the Gartsherrie Works Roll of Honour (1)

Andrew listed on the Gartsherrie Works Roll of Honour (2)

Old Monkland Cemetery

Family Plot in Old Monkland Cemetery (1)

Family Plot in Old Monkland Cemetery (3)

Family Plot In Old Monkland Cemetery

Burial Details

Buried at: Serre Road Cemetery No.1, Pas de Calais

Click to view cemetery details

Grave Reference - V.G.11

Grave & Cemetery Images

Andrew's Main Grave photo July 2023

Andrew's Gravestone July 2023 (1)

Andrew's Gravestone July 2023 (2)

Andrew's Gravestone July 2023 (3)

Andrew's Gravestone Photograph Kindly Donated By Thierry Dericbourg

The Poppy Cross Laid At Andrew's Gravestone

Serre Road Cemetery No. 1 (1)

Serre Road Cemetery No. 1 (2)

Serre Road Cemetery No. 1 (3)

CWGC Grave Registration (1)

CWGC Grave Registration (2)

Headstone Report (1)

Headstone Report (2)

Andrew's Reburial Form

Employment

Joiner with the Gartsherrie Ironworks.

Occupation: Joiner/Carpenter

Additional Information

Andrew and the Battalion were part of the 97th Brigade, 32nd Division and arrived in Boulogne on the 23/11/1915. Andrew was Killed in Action on the opening day of the Battle of Albert, 1st - 13th July 1916 : In this opening phase, the French and British assault broke into and gradually moved beyond the first of the German defensive systems. For the British, the attack on the 1st July proved to be the worst day in the nation's military history in terms of casualties sustained. It is the aspect of the battle that is most remembered and most written about, and for good reason - but to concentrate on the failures is to entirely miss the point of the Somme and why the battle developed into an epic period of the Great War.

On the first day, British forces at the southern end of the British line made an impressive advance alongside the French Sixth Army, capturing the villages of Montauban and Mametz and breaking through the enemy's defensive system. North of Mametz the attack was an almost unmitigated failure. The situation led to a redirection of effort, with the offensive north of the River Ancre effectively being closed down and all future focus being on the line south of Thiepval. There was a stiff fight for Trones Wood and costly, hastily planned and piecemeal attacks that eventually took La Boisselle, Contalmaison and Mametz Wood during the rest of the period up to the 13th July.

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.

Andrew was 1 of 16 men remembered on the Coatbridge Memorial to fall on this day. According to the War Diary the Battalion casualties for the 1st July were 20 Officers and 534 Other Ranks.

I personally visited Andrew's grave in Serre Road Cemetery No.1 in July 2023 and placed a Poppy Cross at his resting place. The Poppy Cross has a picture of Andrew, the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge and the words "PTE ANDREW AITKEN, FROM FELLOW COATBRIDGE MEN, LEST WE FORGET." Andrew's Grave Inscription reads "HE LIVETH IN OUR HEARTS".

Thanks

The photo of Andrew's headstone with Poppy attached was kindly donated by my friend in France, Thierry Dericbourg who has personally travelled to many Cemeteries and Memorials all over France taking photos of where the men who left for war from Coatbridge lie or are remembered on Memorials.