Private Robert Grainger

Private Robert Grainger, 12th ( Service ) Battalion, Royal Scots. He was killed in action in Belgium on 11th April 1918, aged 39 and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Flanders, Belgium. He had been born in Oldhamstocks and was the son of Adam and Elizabeth Grainger of Oldhamstocks.  He had been working as a clerk in Glasgow when he enlisted in December 1915 and joined the 13th Battalion, R.S. in France in June 1917.. He was wounded in late July 1917 and upon recovery he was posted to the 12th Battalion in December 1917. He fell during the German Spring Offensive on the River Lys where the foe was pushing back the British 19th Division near the White Chateau which was just south of the Ypres-Comines Canal sector. The Battalion at this stage prevented the Germans from turning the flank of the 19th Division and helped to prevent any break through. Most of the casualties were caused by very heavy artillery shelling. His father was the local schoolmaster. The photographs show Allied troops in defensive positions preparing to resist the advancing Germans.