John Kinnear likeness

John Kinnear cap badgePrivate John Kinnear

12th (Service) Battalion Highland Light Infantry
Service No: 19458

John Kinnear grave

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Click here for a frameable A4 print
Personal details

Family Information

From the 1891 Census - Address - St Almshouse Infirmary, Brechin, Angus - John was 1 of 43 people listed here. He was aged 5. According to John's Army Register of Soldiers Effects he left his effects to Alex Copeland.

Born / Resided

Brechin, Forfarshire / 7 Sunnyside Terrace, Coatbridge.

Died

Killed in Action on the 13/08/1916 at the Battle of Pozieres (part of the Battles of the Somme)

Enlisted

Coatbridge 1914

Employed

William Baird and Company.

Age

30

Buried / Remembered

Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 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

The Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 10/07/1915 and were part of the 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division. The Battle of Pozieres, 23rd July - 3rd September 1916 : Pozieres was a small, straggling village on the main Albert-Bapaume road. It is situated on high ground that gives the occupier observation southwards along the road towards Ovillers, La Boisselle, Albert and beyond; to the east across to High Wood, Delville Wood and beyond; and westwards to Thiepval. Possession of Pozieres was key to making possible any further advances towards Bapaume, the capture of the Thiepval ridge and the breaking of resistance at High and Delville Woods. The battle for Pozieres and nearby Mouquet Farm became an epic in its own right, with tenacious German defence keeping determined British-Australian attack at bay for several weeks. This was the first large-scale Australian battle in France and proved to be its costliest in terms of total casualties. On the 10/08/1916 the 15th (Division) were given orders to capture the part of the German front line known as the Switch Line from the Bazentin-Martinpuich road to Munster Alley. On the 12th the assault was delivered. The 12th Battalion Highland Light Infantry suffered severely from machine-gun fire. In a few minutes they lost two-thirds of their Officers and a large proportion of men. On the 13th and 14th local operations were continued. Bombing attacks were made by the 45th Brigade on that portion of the Switch Line still held by the enemy. This 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. 15 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. The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. The Memorial also serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial in recognition of the joint nature of the 1916 offensive and a small cemetery containing equal numbers of Commonwealth and French graves lies at the foot of the Memorial. John is also remembered on the Gartsherrie Works x 2, Maxwell Parish Church and East United Free Churches Rolls of Honour and on the Brechin War Memorial x 2 (see photos). See photos for John's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clippings x 2, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his name on the Thiepval Memorial, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2 and the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge.

Photos
John Kinnear Medal Index CardJohn Kinnear newspaper clippingJohn Kinnear newspaper clippingJohn Kinnear remembered at homeJohn Kinnear remembered at homeJohn Kinnear remembered at homeJohn Kinnear remembered at homeJohn Kinnear additional photoJohn Kinnear additional photoJohn Kinnear additional photoJohn Kinnear additional photoJohn Kinnear additional photoJohn Kinnear additional photo

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