Moses Sefton

Moses arrived at Boulogne on the 14/08/1914 as part of the 2nd Battalion who were part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division. The 1st Battalion moved to France via Egypt, landing at Marseilles on the 01/12/1914 and were part of the 9th (Sirhind) Brigade, 3rd (Lahore) Division when Moses was Killed in Action at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 10th - 13th March 1915. The Battle : British First Army mounts first offensive on large scale: costly in terms of casualties but results in capture of Neuve Chapelle. Localised operations continue afterwards. Neuve Chapelle was the first large scale organised attack undertaken by the British Army during the war. It followed the miserable winter operations of 1914-15. More Divisions had now arrived in France and the British Expeditionary Force was now split into two Armies. Neuve Chapelle was undertaken by Sir Douglas Haig's First Army, while subsequent actions were fought by Sir Herbert Smith-Dorrien's Second Army. The attack at Neuve Chapelle was an entirely British affair, the French saying that until extra British Divisions could relieve them at Ypres, they had insufficient troops in the area to either extend of support the action. Neuve Chapelle was the first planned British offensive of the war. It demonstrated that it was quite possible to break into the enemy positions, but also showed that this kind of success was not easily turned into breaking through them. The main lessons of Neuve Chapelle were that the artillery bombardment was too light to suppress the enemy defences; there were too few good artillery observation points; the reserves were too few to follow up success quickly; command communications took too long and the means of communicating were too vulnerable. One important lesson was perhaps not fully understood: the sheer weight of bombardment was a telling factor. Similar efforts in 1915 and 1916 would fall far short of its destructive power. The British losses in the four attacking Divisions were 544 officers and 11108 other ranks killed, wounded and missing. German losses are estimated at a similar figure of 12000, which included 1687 prisoners. See photos for captured German prisoners guarded by British soldiers at Neuve Chapelle, March 1915 and Neuve Chapelle in ruins after the Battle. See Directory for Moses' brother-in-law Private Samuel Spiers Allan's page. Moses is listed as 2nd BATTALION on the Coatbridge Memorial (this was his previous Regiment). A huge thank you to Pat Allan (Private Samuel Spiers Allan's Great Nephew) for information and photos of Moses with George William and Samuel Spiers Allan and of Moses with his wife Mary and daughter Sarah Spiers Sefton. Also, thanks to Suzanne Cross for photos of Moses and of Mary and their daughter Sarah and family information along with Moses' Medals and information. Moses is also remembered on the Stewarts and Lloyds Roll of Honour x 2 (see photos). See photos for Moses' Medal Index Card, his Medals and Medal information x 3, his name on the Le Touret Memorial, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Le Touret Memorial Panel List, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects x 3, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge, Moses' Pension Record, a photo of Moses and a photo of Moses' wife Mary and daughter Sarah.