John Brown likeness

John Brown cap badgePrivate John Brown

8th (Service) Battalion Gordon Highlanders
Service No: 2176

John Brown grave

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Click here for a frameable A4 print
Personal details

Family Information

Son of John Wright Brown and Annie Brown of 2e Tennent St, Whifflet, Coatbridge. John's younger brother Private Robert Brown (21128) of the 8th (Service) Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers is listed on his Pension Record. Robert survived the war. From the 1901 Census - Address - 57 Stone Row, Coatbridge - John Brown aged 37, Ann Brown aged 38, James Brown aged 10, John Brown aged 8, Robert Brown aged 4. John's Pension was awarded to his mother then his father on the 07/11/1916.

Born / Resided

Motherwell / 2e Tennent St, Whifflet, Coatbridge.

Died

Killed in Action on the 25/09/1915 in the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on the opening day of the Battle of Loos

Enlisted

Calderbank

Employed

Driver at the Calderbank Iron Works.

Age

22

Buried / Remembered

Loos Memorial (Panel 115 to 119), 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

John and the Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 10/05/1915 and were part of the 26th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division. John was Killed in Action on the opening day of 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 : The centre 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. The 8th Gordon Highlanders, moving to the South of the Dump, managed to reach the German second line – Pekin Trench – shortly after 8.05am. This was some 1000 yards further ahead than the units now consolidating the trenches of the Redoubt. 27th Brigade was ordered to support this apparent breakthrough. However its units met with mixed fortunes. From the 8th (Service) Battalion War Diary - 25/09/1915 : "At 7.30am the 8th (Service) Battalion Gordon Highlanders advanced from their own front line in support of the 7th Seaforth Highlanders on the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, The Seaforth Highlanders had started at about 6.30am with the 5th Cameron Highlanders on their LEFT. In support of the Camerons and on the LEFT of the Gordon Highlanders were the 8th Black Watch. The first objective of the Gordon Highlanders was the main GERMAN Trench (DUMP TRENCH AND FOSSE TRENCH) behind the REDOUBT". SEE PHOTOS x 7 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY 25/09/1915 and PHOTOS x 21 FOR THE 9th (SCOTTISH) DIVISION ON THE 25/09/1915. 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 the 25/09/1915 to the 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. John was 1 of 99 men from the Coatbridge Memorial who fell during and from injuries from the Battle of Loos. 82 men from the Memorial fell in the first 3 days of the Battle (nearly 10% of the men on the Memorial). Many thanks to Gunner who very kindly sent me a photo of John's name on the Loos Memorial. See photos for John's Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Loos Memorial Panel List, the Gordon Highlanders Cap Badge, John's brother Robert's Medal Index Card, John's brother Robert's Service Medal and Award Rolls, his Pension Record x 3 (brother Robert mentioned), the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Cap Badge and John's name on the Loos Memorial. Finally, SEE 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), 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 Gordon Highlanders Panels (John listed middle right). The History of the 9th (Scottish) Division book is available to read online here

Photos
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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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