Lance Corporal James Crawford

Lance Corporal James Crawford, 9th ( Service ) Battalion, Black Watch. He was killed in action in France on 25th September 1915, aged 21, on the first day of the Battle of Loos. He was the son of Robert and Annie Crawford of Denholm and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Loos, France.  His father was a Private in the Army Veterinary Corps. He had enlisted in September 1914 and had landed with his Battalion in France in July 1915. The Battalion attacked the Lens Road Redoubt on that day and with great elan captured the German front and support lines and fought their way in the village of Loos itself. Casualties were very heavy and when the Battalion was relieved the following day only 98 men returned. 10 Officers and 360 Other Ranks had been killed and 11 Officers and 320 Other Ranks had been wounded The first photo shows an actual attack with the troops advancing into a ghostly cloud of gas and smoke. This day was the first time the British Army has used gas. The second photo shows the village of Loos after capture. The artist’s illustration depicts the Black Watch at Loos led by their pipers.