William G Begg

Died of Wounds to the abdomen on the 17/08/1916 during the Battle of Pozieres near Martinpuich (part of the Battles of the Somme)

The 9th (Service) Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 08/07/1915 and were part of the 44th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division. William arrived on the 14/07/1915 with the 1st Battalion. He fell during the Battle of Pozieres, 23rd July - 3rd September 1916 : Pozieres was a small, straggling village on the main Albert - Bapaume road. It is situated on high ground that gives the occupier observation southwards along the road towards Ovillers, La Boisselle, Albert and beyond; to the east across to High Wood, Delville Wood and beyond; and westwards to Thiepval. Possession of Pozieres was key to making possible any further advances towards Bapaume, the capture of the Thiepval ridge and the breaking of resistance at High and Delville Woods. The battle for Pozieres and nearby Mouquet Farm became an epic in its own right, with tenacious German defence keeping determined British-Australian attack at bay for several weeks. This was the first large-scale Australian battle in France and proved to be its costliest in terms of total casualties. William died near Martinpuich. The 15th Division captured the village on the 15th September, during the Battle of Flers'Courcelette, 15th - 22nd September. SEE PHOTOS x 12 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY FOR AUGUST 1916. These Battles were 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. SEE PHOTOS x 14 FOR THE 15th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION BOOK 27th JUNE - 17th AUGUST 1916. See photos for William's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clipping, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his name on the Gartsherrie Church Roll of Honour, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, Warloy Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, the Black Watch Cap Badge and William's Pension Records x 4. Finally, see photos for the 15th (Scottish) Division Order of Battle x 13 (the Division he was with when he died) and 2 more Newspaper clippings (Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 1 and the Coatbridge Leader x 1).