Private James Docherty

Private James Docherty

6th (Service) Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers
Service No: 7342

469

0

3

0

93

Click here for a frameable A4 print

Personal details

Family Information

Son of Charles and Catherine Boyce Docherty of Dixons Dam, Rothesay, Bute previously 68b Kildonan St, Coatbridge. His mother was active on Flag Days. James wrote a Will leaving everything to his father. From the 1901 Census - Address - 3 Clyde Square, Coatbridge - Charles Docherty aged 32, Catherine Docherty aged 28, James Docherty aged 5, Charles Docherty aged 3, Mary Ann Docherty aged 1, boarders Sarah Boyce aged 23 and Denis Callaghan aged 21. James' Pension was awarded to his mother Catherine on the 08/07/1916.

Born / Resided

Carrigart, Co. Donegal / 68b Kildonan St, Coatbridge.

Died

Killed in Action on the 29/09/1915 at the Battle of Loos

Enlisted

Glasgow 28/08/1914

Employed

Ticket Collector / Booking Clerk at Blairhill Station.

Age

19 Buried / Remembered

Loos Memorial (Panel 46 to 49), 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

James and the Battalion arrived at Bolougne on the 11/05/1915 and were part of the 27th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division. James is listed as being Killed in Action on the 29/09/1915. The Battalion War Diary for that date states - "GRENAY LINES : At 3am Battalion marched back to Billets in BETHUNE". Newspaper clippings state dates of death as 24th / 25th AND 26th / 29th. There are also 2 explanations of how James was Killed. Firstly Sergeant James Brazill of "D" Company 6th Battalion states - "Private James Docherty was leading a party when he was wounded on the hand with a bomb, but he was fatally shot before reaching a dressing station". Secondly he states - "It appears from some of James' chums who saw him last that he had first been wounded in the hand, and when he was walking to the Medical Officer he was killed by a shell" (see Newspaper photos for all information). SEE PHOTOS x 10 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY 24th - 30th SEPTEMBER 1915. The Battle of Loos, 25th September - 15th October 1915 : The first genuinely large scale British offensive action but once again only in a supporting role to a larger French attack in the Third Battle of Artois. British appeals that the ground over which they were being called upon to advance was wholly unsuitable were rejected. The battle is historically noteworthy for the first British use of poison gas. British casualties in the main Loos front between the 25th September and 16th October 1915 (Formations that lost more than 5,000 men) - 15th (Scottish) Division : 6,896 of which 228 Officers, 9th (Scottish) Division : 6,058 of which 190 Officers, 1st Division : 6,030 of which 246 Officers, 7th Division : 5,224 of which 220 Officers. More than 61,000 British casualties were sustained in this battle. 50,000 of them were in the main fighting area between Loos and Givenchy and the remainder in the subsidiary attacks. Of these, 7,766 men died. Casualties were particularly high among Scottish Regiments who 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. James was 1 of 99 men from the Coatbridge Memorial who fell during and from injuries from the Battle of Loos. James is also remembered on the St. Patrick's Church Roll of Honour (see photos). See Newspaper clippings for a letter to James' family from Sergeant James Brasill, "D" Company, 6th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers. See photos for James' 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, James' name on the Loos Memorial x 2, his Pension Records x 2 and the Royal Scots Fusiliers Cap Badge. Finally, see photos for Newspaper clippings x 9 (Coatbridge Express x 2, Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 7), wreath placed by myself remembering the men on the Loos Memorial in July 2023 x 2, myself at the Royal Scots Fusiliers panel at the Loos Memorial in July 2023 (James listed bottom left), the 9th (Scottish) Division Order of Battle x 12 (the Division he was with when he died), PHOTOS x 31 FOR THE 9th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION BOOK 25th - 30th SEPTEMBER 1915 and 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). 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

Comments

There are no comments yet for Private James Docherty. Be the first to leave one.

Do you have any information about or memories of Private James Docherty that you would like to share?

Or even if you would just like to leave a message to say you've been here, please leave a comment below.

*Please note that all comments are verified by a moderator before appearing on the site. All fields are required except links to photos.

Your name

Your location

Your comment

Online links to photos (Optional - please put each link on a separate line)

By clicking this checkbox you accept our terms & conditions and acknowledge that any links you provide to photos are your copyright or are out of copyright