Private Robert Grant

Private Robert Grant

10th (Service) Battalion Highland Light Infantry
Service No: 12600

1230

2

0

43

Click here for a frameable A4 print

Personal details

Family Information

Son of Robert Grant (1856 - 29/06/1913) and Christina Grant (1857 - 01/09/1903). Husband of Martha Grant (28/12/1887 - ) of 35 Middle Row, Whifflet, Coatbridge. Father of 4 children - William born 20/03/1908, Harry born 18/07/1910, John born 25/09/1912 and Robert born 20/11/1914. Brother of Private Samuel Grant of the 18th (Service) Battalion (4th Glasgow) Highland Light Infantry who was Killed in Action at the Somme on the 18/07/1916. Another 3 brothers were at the front in November 1916. From the 1891 Census - Address - Whites Square, Barrhead - Robert Grant aged 35, Christina Grant aged 34, William Grant aged 11, Agnes Grant aged 7, Robert Grant aged 5, James Grant aged 2. From the 1901 Census - Address - 6 Academy St, Shettleston - Robert Grant aged 45, Christina Grant aged 44, William Grant aged 21, Agnes Grant aged 17, Robert Grant aged 15, James Grant aged 12, John Grant aged 9, Janet Grant aged 9, Catherine Grant aged 8, Peter Grant aged 7, Samuel Grant aged 5. Robert's Pension was awarded to his wife Martha on the 10/06/1916. Robert's 4 children also listed.

Born / Resided

Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire / 35 Middle Row, Whifflet, Coatbridge.

Died

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

Enlisted

Coatbridge

Employed

Miner in Rosehall Colliery.

Age

30 / DOB - 03/08/1885

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

Robert 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 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. The opening day of The Battle of Loos : Zero hour was fixed for 05.50 a.m. On the left of the Division were the 10th Highland Light Infantry and the 6th Kings Own Scottish Borderers were on the right. At 06.30 they advanced in 3 lines against the German trenches. The 10th Highland Light Infantry : "As the wind was too weak to carry the gas forward from the trenches many of the men were suffering from the effects of it when they left the front line. At the very start the ranks of the Battalion were thinned by a storm of shell, rifle and machine-gun fire, a considerable amount being killed or wounded. The men pushed on but we unable to penetrate the enemy's wire. Before vicious machine-gun fire from Madagascar Trench, Railway Work and Mad Point the attack melted away and most of the survivors struggled back to the trenches none of whom had broken through the German wire". SEE PHOTOS x 10 FOR THE 10th (SERVICE) BATTALION WAR DIARY SEPTEMBER 1915 + 27 PHOTOS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE 9th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION BOOK 25/09/1915 - 27/09/1915. 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. Robert was posted missing on the opening day of the Battle of Loos. His death was not confirmed until November 1916. He was 1 of 99 men from the Coatbridge Memorial who fell during and from injuries from the Battle of Loos. His son John's 3rd birthday was the day his father died. See Directory for Robert's younger brother Private Samuel Grant's page. 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. See photos for Robert's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clippings x 2, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Loos Memorial Panel List, his name on the Loos Memorial, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge and Robert's Pension Records x 2. Finally, 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

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