The Battle of Loos

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The Battle of Loos

• Who was involved
• Why did it happen?
• Scottish battalions involved
• Artillery bombardment
• Gas attack
• Confusion and indecision
• Slaughter
• Outcome of the battle

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Scottish involvement

• 35,000 Scots involved
• Half the 72 infantry battalions involved had
  Scottish names
• Out of 21,000 dead, 1/3 from Scotland
• Englands loss was national while Scotlands was
  personal

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Why did it happen?

• Unnecessary and unwanted?
• Divert the German forces away from a planned
  French attack.
• Worries that Kitcheners recruits were untrained
  wanted to wait till 1916
• General Haig worried about flat land devoid of
  cover
• French appealed directly for Kitchener for the
  attack to go ahead

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Scottish battalions involved

• 6 divisions
• 3 from regular army mostly made up from Scottish
  battalions
• 1 T A battalion
• 2 made up of volunteers 9th and 15th Scottish

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Initial bombardment

• Chlorine gas released from canisters
• Unsuccessful due to the artillery bombardment?
• Wind changed?
• 10th Highland light infantry were gassed
• Kings Own Scottish Borderers held up by gas and
  shellfire

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Piper Daniel Laidlaw

• Encouraged KOSBies ower the bags
• Played even when wounded and lying on the ground
• Later awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery

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Confusion and indecision

• Germans pushed back at many points
• Casualties enormous
• Sir John French, commander of BEF, in charge of
  reserve troops
• Reluctant to send in new Kitchener troops who had
  just marched 40 miles in heavy rain

• German reinforcements had arrived, barbed wire
  was replaced, and there was no gas cover
• German machine guns cut down troops in their
  thousands

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Slaughter

• Battle officially carried on until 18th October
  1915 but only really lasted 3 days
• Scots suffered heavy losses and gained a
  reputation as feared and aggressive fighters
• Sir John French replaced as a commander by
  Douglas Haig