Private James Callaghan

Private James Callaghan

1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders
Service No: S/12914

351

0

3

0

34

Click here for a frameable A4 print

Personal details

Family Information

Son of James (1863 - 11/03/1901) Sarah Clark Callaghan (24/12/1864 - 19/12/1933) of 59 Buchanan St, Coatbridge. Husband of Elizabeth (Lizzie) Flood formerly Callaghan of 16 Lang St, Coatbridge. From the 1901 Census - Address - 6 Merrystone Square, Coatbridge - Sarah Callaghan aged 36, Grace Callaghan aged 15, Michael Callaghan aged 14, Sarah Callaghan aged 12, Maggie Callaghan aged 10, Mary Callaghan aged 8, James Callaghan aged 5, Bridget Callaghan aged 3, Catherine Callaghan aged 1 and boarder Peter Callaghan aged 40. James and his brother Michael's Pension was awarded to his mother Sarah of 61 Buchanan St, Coatbridge on the 05/12/1918. James Pension was also awarded to his wife Elizabeth (Lizzie) on the 04/04/1917 but was refused as she had remarried Mr J. Flood (Labourer) on the 20/02/1917.

Born / Resided

Coatbridge / 16 Lang St, Coatbridge.

Died

Killed in Action on the 18/08/1916 at the Battle of Delville Wood (part of the Battles of the Somme)

Enlisted

Coatbridge

Employed

Foundryman with Messrs Hamilton and Calder Boilerworks, Coatbridge.

Age

21 / DOB - 1895

Buried / Remembered

Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 15 B and 15 C), Somme, France.

Cemetery / Memorial Information

The memorial commemorates more than 72,000 men of British and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave, the majority of whom died during the Somme offensive of 1916. On the high ground overlooking the Somme River in France, where some of the heaviest fighting of the First World War took place, stands the Thiepval Memorial. Towering over 45 metres in height, it dominates the landscape for miles around. It is the largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing in the world. On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, 13 divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July.

Additional Information

James' elder brother Private Michael Callaghan (64723) of the 2nd Battalion Cameronians died in the British General Hospital in Harnai, India on the 30/11/1919. He is remembered on the Delhi Memorial (India Gate) and is buried in the Quetta Government Cemetery. He is NOT on the Coatbridge Memorial. The 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders arrived at Boulogne on the 14/08/1914 and were part of the 76th Brigade, 3rd Division when James fell. James was Killed when a shell burst among his party killing him and 5 others on an attack towards Falfemont Farm during the Battle of Delville Wood, 15th of July - 3rd of September 1916 : Delville Wood, which is within sight and today and easy walk of High Wood, was also fought over countless times for similar reasons and became a charnel house, choked with the dead of both sides. It is perhaps most remembered for the sustained attack made by the South African Brigade of the 9th (Scottish) Division, a formation which was to all intents and purposes destroyed during its valiant efforts. The Battle was 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. According to an Officer James' death was instantaneous. He was in hospital before his death and was described as brave and cheerful. SEE PHOTOS x 10 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY AUGUST 1916. The War Diary states the Battalion casualties on the 18/06/1916 : 3 Officers Killed, 2 Died of Wounds, 2 Wounded. Other Ranks 254 Killed, Wounded or Missing. James is listed as 2nd BATTALION on the Memorial. He is also remembered in the St. Augustine's Parish (book) Roll of Honour. See photos for James' Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Thiepval Memorial x 2 (fellow Coatbridge resident Private Peter Caird is listed above James), James' and his brother Michael's Pension Records x 8 and the Gordon Highlanders Cap Badge. Finally, see photos for Newspaper clipping from the Coatbridge Leader and the 3rd Division Order of Battle x 12 (the Division he was with when he died).

Photos

War Diaries

The battalion War Diary is available on the National Archives website.

Creative Commons License

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