Samuel Matear

Died of Wounds on the 14/10/1915 at the 141st Field Ambulance. Wounds received at the Battle of Loos

The Battalion arrived at Le Havre on the 14/08/1914 and were part of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division. Samuel arrived in France on the 07/07/1915. 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 13th of October at 2.00pm : the infantry attacked (although some units started a few minutes earlier). Led by 1st Brigade, the attack of 1st Division against 1400 yards of enemy positions along the Lens-La Bassee road between Loos and Hulluch was hit by fire of increasing intensity as they approached the German wire 300 yards away. They found that only four passages through the wire had been cleared by the bombardment and despite efforts to cut through, the attack was halted. The survivors withdrew after dark; the Divisions suffered 1,200 casualties in this fruitless assault. Samuel Died of Wounds at the 141st Field Ambulance. He was 1 of 99 men from the Coatbridge Memorial who fell during and from injuries from the Battle of Loos. Samuel and his 4 brothers travelled to the USA via Canada before the war and worked as miners. One of the brothers William was killed there in the Cherry Mine disaster. The 4 remaining brothers returned to Coatbridge with Samuel enlisting at the outbreak of war. See Directory for Samuel's brother Henry's page. See photos for Samuel's Medal Index Card, 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, Samuel's Pension Records x 2, the Black Watch Cap Badge and Samuel and Henry's brother Robert's Service Records x 11.