Sergeant Henry Cowan

Sergeant Henry Cowan

10th (Service) Battalion Highland Light Infantry
Service No: 12598

345

2

3

0

67

Click here for a frameable A4 print

Personal details

Family Information

Son of Thomas Turnbull (18/04/1845 - 17/11/1919) and Mary McEwan Cowan (16/03/1849 - 09/07/1928) of 9b Baird St, Coatbridge. Henry was born in the Asylum where his father worked. Brother Thomas Cowan (25/01/1868 - 15/04/1926), Sister Mary Ritchieson Cowan (31/12/1870 - 1951), Brother Henry McEwan Cowan (12/03/1873 - 10/04/1875), Sisters Lilas Turnbull Cowan (29/05/1875 - ), Ellen Cowan (16/09/1877 - ), Jessie Cowan (1883 - ), Janet Cowan (1883 - 1975), Margaret McEwan Cowan (16/06/1885 - 1955), Jane Cowan (1888 - ). From the 1901 Census - Address - Asylum North Lodge, Larbert, Stirlingshire - Thomas Cowan aged 55, Mary McEwan Cowan aged 52, Nellie Cowan aged 23, Henry Cowan aged 21, Jessie Cowan aged 18, Maggie Cowan aged 15, Jeanie Cowan aged 2. Henry's Pension was awarded to his mother Mary on the 22/07/1917.

Born / Resided

Larbert, Stirlingshire / 9b Baird St, Coatbridge.

Died

Killed in Action on the 25/09/1915 near Cambrin on the opening day of the Battle of Loos

Enlisted

Coatbridge 1914

Employed

Miner in Bedlay Colliery.

Age

35 / DOB - 21/05/1880

Buried / Remembered

Loos Memorial (Panel 108 to 112), Pas de Calais, France.

Cemetery / Memorial Information

The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave, who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay, from the first day of the Battle of Loos to the end of the war. On either side of the cemetery is a wall 15 feet high, to which are fixed tablets on which are carved the names of those commemorated. At the back are four small circular courts, open to the sky, in which the lines of tablets are continued, and between these courts are three semicircular walls or apses, two of which carry tablets, while on the centre apse is erected the Cross of Sacrifice.

Additional Information

From the 1891 Census - Address - Asylum North Lodge, Larbert, Stirlingshire - Thomas Cowan aged 45, Mary Cowan aged 42, Thomas Cowan aged 23, Lillias Cowan aged 16, Ellen Cowan aged 13, Henry Cowan aged 10, Janet Cowan aged 8, Margaret Cowan aged 6, Jane Cowan aged 3, Boarders James Sim aged 24, Mary R Sim aged 20, Thomas E Sim aged 1. Henry and the Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 12/05/1915 and were part of the 28th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division. On the 14/05/1916 they transferred to the 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division and amalgamated with 11th (Service) Battalion to form the 10/11th Battalion. The Battle of Loos : At 07.05 am the 9th (Scottish) Division had to attack the formidable obstacle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8, the high location of the main enemy observation posts looking across the whole battlefield. Preparations had included Russian saps to close the distance to be covered, and effective observed heavy shelling. The lead units of 26th Brigade suffered casualties as they cleared the gas and smoke, but advanced through well-cut wire to quickly take the front face of the Redoubt. Half an hour later they were in Corons Trench, which had been flooded by the enemy, where they halted and reorganised. Later the first rank of the 10th Battalion Highland Light Infantry was annihilated by crossfire from Railway Redoubt (across the Cambrin - La Bassee road) before it had gained 20 yards; the men in succeeding ranks suffering similarly. Support units pushed into the area were also hit and pinned down. Auchy area : The attack of 9th (Scottish) Division had by mid-morning succeeded in reaching and occupying the enemy trench network around the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8, and also Pekin Trench. SEE PHOTOS x 6 FOR THE 10th (SERVICE) BATTALION WAR DIARY ON THE 25/09/1915 and 21 PHOTOS FROM THE 9th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION BOOK SEPTEMBER 1915. THE BATTALION CASUALTIES ON THE 25/09/1915 (NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS + MEN) - "A" COMPANY : 29 KILLED, 66 MISSING, 45 WOUNDED, 22 GASSED (TOTAL = 162), "B" COMPANY : 66 KILLED, 70 MISSING, 33 WOUNDED, 6 GASSED (TOTAL = 175), "C" COMPANY : 28 KILLED, 46 MISSING, 46 WOUNDED, 7 GASSED (TOTAL = 127), "D" COMPANY : 37 KILLED, 17 MISSING, 50 WOUNDED, 9 GASSED (TOTAL = 113). TOTAL : 160 KILLED, 199 MISSING, 174 WOUNDED, 49 GASSED = 577. OFFICERS - HQ : 1 KILLED, 1 WOUNDED, 1 GASSED, "A" COMPANY : 4 KILLED, "B" COMPANY : 3 KILLED, "C" COMPANY : 2 WOUNDED, "D" COMPANY : 1 KILLED, 2 WOUNDED. TOTAL : 9 KILLED, 5 WOUNDED, 1 GASSED = 15. Scottish Regiments lost a huge amount of brave men at Loos. Here is a list of Infantry Battalions who lost more than 500 men at the Battle of Loos from 25/09/1915 to 16/10/1915 - 7th Cameron Highlanders 687, of which 19 Officers, 9th Black Watch 680, of which 20 Officers, 6th King's Own Scottish Borderers 650, of which 20 Officers, 10th HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY 648, OF WHICH 20 OFFICERS, 7th King's Own Scottish Borderers 631, of which 20 Officers, 8th Devons 619, of which 19 Officers, 8th Royal West Kents 580, of which 24 Officers, 8th Buffs 558, of which 24 Officers, 12th Highland Light Infantry 553, of which 23 Officers, 8th Black Watch 511, of which 19 Officers, 5th North Staffordshire 505, of which 20 Officers, 8th Seaforth Highlanders 502, of which 23 Officers. Henry was 1 of 99 men from the Coatbridge Memorial who fell during and from injuries from the Battle of Loos. Henry is also remembered on the St. Patrick's Church Roll of Honour (see photos). See photos for Henry's Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Loos Memorial Panel List, his name on the Loos Memorial, the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge and the Pension Records x 2. Finally, see photos of a wreath x 2 placed by myself at Loos Memorial in July 2023 remembering ALL the men who left from the Iron Burgh who are named there and one of myself at the Highland Light Infantry Panel at Loos Memorial in July 2023 (Henry listed middle right), a Newspaper clipping from the Coatbridge Express 13/01/1916 (Henry listed in the St. Patrick's Church Roll of Honour), PHOTOS FOR 20 PAGES FROM THE MOST UNFAVOURABLE GROUND BOOK REGARDING THE BATTALION and DIVISION 25/09/1915 (fantastic book on the Battle of Loos kindly signed by the author Niall Cherry) and the 9th (Scottish) Division Order of Battle x 12 (the Division he was with when he died). The History of the 9th (Scottish) Division book is available to read online here

Photos

War Diaries

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

Creative Commons License

We have made this information and the images available under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement: © coatbridgeandthegreatwar.com

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