Lance Corporal Ralph Musgrave

Lance Corporal Ralph E. Musgrave, 10th ( Service) Battalion, Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles ). He was killed in action in France on 25th September 1915, aged 38, on the first day of the Battle of Loos. He had been born in Sunderland and was the husband of Laura Musgrave of 72 Brunswick Street, Edinburgh and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Loos, France. The Battalion was part of the 15th ( Scottish ) Division and lost 225 dead on that day. The first photo shows  an actual assault with the troops disappearing into the ghostly clouds of gas and smoke. This was the first time the British Army  had used gas in the War. The second shows the village of Loos after its capture. The artist’s nightmarish illustration depicts an attack at Loos with troops wearing their gas hoods and using primitive grenades.