David Blair

Killed in Action on the 11/04/1918 near Pacaut Wood at the Battle of Estaires (part of the Battles of the Lys)

The Battalion arrived at Le Havre on the 05/11/1914. David was sent to France 13 days before he died. His Pioneer Battalion were part of the 51st (Highland) Division when he was Killed in Action on the 11/04/1918 at the Battle of Estaires, 9th - 11th April 1918 : A victim of the German Spring Offensive. The Division was rushed into the area on the 9th of April 1918, to hold the line of the River Lawe. This was a phase of the Battles of the Lys, 9th April - 29th April 1918 : The third German offensive Operation Georgette takes place in Flanders with the objective of capturing key railway and supply roads and cutting off British Second Army at Ypres. After initial successes the German attack is once again held after British and French reserves are somehow found and deployed. SEE PHOTOS x 7 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY APRIL 1918. According to the War Diary the Battalion casualties for period 9th - 13th April inclusive were : Officers Wounded on the 11/04/1918 x 10, Wounded on the 12/04/1918 x 6, Other Ranks - Killed in Action x 20, Wounded x 88, Wounded + Missing x 4, Died of Wounds x 1 and Missing x 67. Also see photos for the men of the British 51st (Highland) Division in a hastily dug trench in a ploughed field near Locon. One soldier sleeps beneath a patterned blanket, the others grin at the camera with their equipment scattered around them. The Division was rushed into the area on 9 April 1918, to hold the line of the River Lawe. David is listed on the Coatbridge Memorial at the bottom of the "D PANEL". He is also remembered on the Maxwell Parish Church Roll of Honour (see photos). See photos for David's Medal Index Card, his CWGC Grave Registration, his listing on the Loos Memorial Panel List, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his name on the Loos Memorial x 2, the Royal Scots Cap Badge, David's Pension Records x 2, the Battalion digging trenches, and the Battalion in camp. Finally, see photos x 2 for a Wreath placed by myself remembering the men on the Loos Memorial July 2023, myself at the Royal Scots Panels at Loos Memorial in July 2023 (David's listing on the right of the photo), PHOTOS x 17 FROM THE 51st (HIGHLAND) DIVISION BOOK 1st - 11th APRIL 1918, the 51st (Highland) Division Order of Battle x 12, another 2 photos of David's name on the Loos Memorial kindly donated by my friend in France, Thierry Dericbourg, his Service Records x 10 (see Service Record 8 for mention of David's brother William and his sisters Georgina and Elizabeth) and 2 Newspaper clippings showing David's listing on the Coatbridge High School Roll of Honour (Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 1 and the Coatbridge Leader x 1).