Additional Information
Norman and the Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 12/05/1915 and were part of the 28th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division. Norman was Killed in Action near Cambrin during the Battle of Loos. 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". The Battle of Loos 25th September - 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. On the 25/09/1915 in the centre of the attack the 9th (Scottish) Division had to attack the formidable obstacle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8, the high location of the main enemy observation posts looking across the whole battlefield. Preparations had included Russian saps to close the distance to be covered, and effective observed heavy shelling. The 28th Brigade, on the left of the Divisional front, ran into serious problems before the assault even began. The gas drifted behind them and hung in the trenches. It gave no cover across No Man's Land, and German artillery opened on the front lines that were packed with men. Gas cylinders were destroyed, releasing even more gas into the area. Men of the 6/KOSB, perhaps surprised at how little resistance the enemy showed while they advanced to his uncut wire, were soon cut down in rows as machine-guns opened up from Strong Point (a gun post in front of Little Willie Trench) and Mad Point. Men not killed or wounded were pinned down, and only some 70 men of the rear ranks made it back to cover. To their left, the first rank of the 10/HLI was annihilated by crossfire from Railway Redoubt (across the Cambrin - La Bassee road) before it had gained 20 yards; the men in succeeding ranks suffering similarly. Auchy area: The attack of 9th (Scottish) Division had by mid-morning succeeded in reaching and occupying the enemy trench network around the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8, and also Pekin Trench. SEE PHOTOS x 10 FOR THE 10th (SERVICE) BATTALION WAR DIARY SEPTEMBER 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. 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. Norman fell like so many other men on the Memorial on the opening day of the Battle of Loos. Norman was 1 of 99 men from the Coatbridge Memorial who fell during and from injuries from the Battle of Loos. He is also remembered on the Balmashanner Hill War Memorial in Forfar (Roll of Honour plaque inside Memorial. See photos x 3). See photos for Norman's Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his name on the Loos Memorial, his CWGC Grave Registration, his Headstone Report, his Pension Record, the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge and Newspaper clippings x 3 (Dundee Courier 12/09/1921). Finally, SEE PHOTOS x 21 FOR THE 9th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION BOOK 25/09/1915, PHOTOS FOR 20 PAGES FROM THE MOST UNFAVOURABLE GROUND BOOK REGARDING THE BATTALION and DIVISION 25/09/1915 (fantastic book on the Battle of Loos kindly signed by the author Niall Cherry), the 9th (Scottish) Division Order of Battle (the Division he was with when he died), photos for a wreath placed by myself at Loos Memorial in July 2023 remembering ALL the men who left from the Iron Burgh who are named there x 2 and one of myself at the Highland Light Infantry Panel (Norman listed bottom left).
