Corporal James McCraw

Corporal James McCraw, 7th ( Service ) Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders. He was killed in action on 25th September 1915, aged 27 on the opening day of the Battle of Loos and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Loos, France. He was the son of Huigh McCraw and before enlisting he had been employed as an assistant gamekeeper in Sprouston. His Battalion was part of the 44th Brigade in the 15th ( Scottish ) Division and he fell in that part of the attack which captured the village of Loos and Hill 70. The German Lens Road Redoubt on the flank known as the “Jews Nose” cost the Battalion 378 casualties due to an intense crossfire of machine guns. The first photo shows Scottish troops marching up to the line before the Battle and the second shows an actual attack with the troops disappearing into the clouds of gas and smoke. This was the first time in the War that the British Army had used gas. The third photo shows the village of Loos after its capture and the final image shows Hill 70 looking over from the northern outskirts of Loos.

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