Private Joseph Glen

Private Joseph Glen

14th (Service) Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders "D" Company
Service No: S/14369

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Personal details

Family Information

Son of Patrick and Helen McGee Glen of 16 North Square, Gartsherrie, Coatbridge. From the 1901 Census - Address - 213 and 214 North Square, Coatbridge - Patrick Glen aged 51, Helen Glen aged 58, Margaret Glen aged 28, James Glen aged 27, Helen Glen aged 25, William Glen aged 23, Thomas Glen aged 22, John Glen aged 20, Daniel Glen aged 18, Mary Glen aged 16, Joseph Glen aged 8. Joseph's Pension was awarded to his sister Miss Mary Glen.

Born / Resided

Coatbridge / 16 North Square, Gartsherrie, Coatbridge.

Died

Killed in Action on the 24/04/1917 during the capture of Beaucamp

Enlisted

Glasgow 03/11/1915

Employed

Assistant Registrar with Mr Gregor Grant, Municipal Buildings.

Age

24 / DOB - 16/01/1893

Buried / Remembered

Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 15 A and 16 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

In June 1916 Joseph and the Battalion arrived at Le Havre and were part of the 120th Brigade, 40th Division. The Division moved to France between the 2nd and 6th June 1916 and by the 9th June had concentrated near Lillers. It then served between June and late October 1916 on the front near Loos. The 40th Division remained on the Western Front throughout the rest of the war. Actions of the Division in 1917 : The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line (March), the capture of Fifteen Ravine, Villers Plouich, Beaucamp and La Vacquerie (April and early May) and the Cambrai Operations, in which the Division participated in the capture of Bourlon Wood (November). Joseph was Killed in Action at the capture of Beaucamp on the 24/04/1917. SEE PHOTOS x 36 FOR THE 14th (SERVICE) BATTALION WAR DIARY APRIL 1917. "D" Company are mentioned in the Diary and Joseph is mention in the "D" Company casualty list in War Diary (33). It states G. GLEN but the Service Number is Joseph's (14369). Joseph's companion at training was 2nd Lieutenant Robert Weir who was shot through the heart leading his men at the 1st Battle of the Scarpe on the 09/04/1917 (see Directory). The Coatbridge Leader Newspaper on the 12/05/1917 states : "Private Glen was sent to France over a year ago. His Battalion have been in the thick of it ever since, and made many a gallant charge, for "the Argyll's" have ever been noted as "bonnie fechters." Private Glen seemed to bear a charmed life, for, though he had been "over the top" several times, he always returned unscathed and buoyant, as shown in many letters home. On the evening of St. George's Day, however, he faced the enemy for the last time. He marched, as so many thousands have done, bravely forward to make the great sacrifice, and cheerily hailed another Gartsherrie comrade as he went along. The fighting there was of the fiercest, and one who saw it described it as like "hell let loose." In the same Newspaper clipping the Chaplain of the Regiment, Rev. W. White Anderson, says : "It is a sad task for me to write you on the occasion of the death of your son in action on the 24th April. He was killed in a successful attack by his Battalion, which took an enemy village and several lines of trenches. The price of the world's salvation has always been paid in blood, and your boy has certainly paid his upmost for the purchasing of the freedom of the years to come." See Newspaper clippings for letters sent home from the Chaplain and Commanding Officer of the Regiment and other tributes. Joseph was educated at St. Patrick's School when Mr Bonner was headmaster. He was chosen to offer public congratulations to Mr Bonner at the time of his semi jubilee as a teacher and later acted as Treasurer of the Catholic Insurance Society. Joseph is listed as GLENN and 15th BATTALION on the Coatbridge Memorial (Joseph was originally in the 15th (Service) Battalion). He is also remembered at the Family Plot in Old Monkland Cemetery and on the Gartsherrie Works Roll of Honour, the St. Patrick's Church (book) Roll of Honour and in the St. Augustine's Parish (book) Roll of Honour (see photos). See photos for Joseph's Medal Index Card, his name on the Thiepval Memorial, his CWGC Grave Registration, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, Joseph's Pension Record, his Service Records x 10 and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Cap Badge. Finally, see photos x 9 for Newspaper clippings (Coatbridge Leader 05/05/1917 x 1, Coatbridge Leader 12/05/1917 x 5, Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser 05/05/1917 x 1, Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser 12/05/1917 x 1 and the Coatbridge Express 09/05/1917 x 1), PHOTOS x 19 FOR THE 40th DIVISION BOOK APRIL 1917 and the 40th Division Order of Battle x 12 (the Division Joseph was with when he fell), PHOTOS x 19 FOR THE 40th DIVISION BOOK APRIL 1917 and the 40th 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

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

Found this fascinating especially as I live practically on the former site formerly called North Square. The information and photographs on this page must have taken a long long time to collate. Hopefully some descendants of this brave man will see this.
Anne Richardson, Coatbridge, 25/01/2024 1:53PM

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