Private William Hinshilwood

Private William Hinshilwood, 6th ( Service ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action in France, aged 30, on the 25th September 1915 on the first day of the Battle of Loos. He had been born in Jedburgh and was the son of Minnie and the late James Hinshilwood of Canongate, Jedburgh. Before enlisting he had been a carting contractor in Jedburgh and he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Loos, Jedburgh. He fell in the attack near the Lens Road Redoubts where the Battalion suffered very heavy casualties. The men faced concentrated machine gun fire, hidden obstacles and uncut wire and despite great heroism no progress could be made.11 Officers and 347 Other Ranks were killed or missing and 8 Officers and 272 Other Ranks were wounded or gassed. The first photo shows an attack at Loos with the troops advancing through a ghostly mist of gas and smoke. This was the first time in the War that the British Army had used gas. The second is an artist’s nightmarish impression of an attack at Loos with the troops wearing their gas hoods.