Description
British War and Victory Medal, 17441 Lance Sergeant George Robert McDonald, B Company, 15th Bn Royal Scots, Killed in Action on the 1st Day of the Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916.
Officially impressed: “17441 Cpl G. R. Mc Donald. R. Scots.”
Full entitlement of Medals, the 15th Bn having first landed for service in France on 8th January 1916.
Corporal George Robert Mconald, “B” Company, 15th (1st Edinburgh) Battalion Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) was killed in action on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme, the deadliest day in British Army history.
He was unusually old for your typical recruit, being 48 years old when he died, well over the conscription limit of 41 years old around that time.
Like many others, his body was never recovered, leaving him to be commemorated on Pier and Face 6D and 7D of the Thiepval Memorial.
According to the medal rolls, he was Lance Sergeant at the time.
The 15th (1st Edinburgh) (Cranston’s), raised in Edinburgh in September 1914 as part of K3, and including 300 Scottish volunteers from Manchester, landed in France 8 January 1916 as part of 101 Bde, 34 Div. (According to the Royal Scots Official Website)
According to his records he was born in Lambeth London circa 1868, but enlisted in Manchester, probably one of the 300 British “Scots”.
You can read further about the day on the Royal Scots Association Website below:
https://www.theroyalscots.co.uk/the-somme/
They write the following about the experiences on the 1st Day of the Somme when George was killed in action:
“The 15th and 16th Battalions were in the initial assault on 1 July which was preceded by a six-day long bombardment. Both battalions were on the right flank of 34 Division which sat astride the Albert-Bapaume road and their initial objective was the once heavily fortified, but by the now ruined, village of La Boiselle. The enemy’s front line consisted of front, support and reserve trenches, all well protected by barbed wire. The 15th was to advance to a strong point, subsequently named Scots Redoubt, which lay some two kilometres south-east of La Boiselle. Thereafter the 16th was to pass through the 15th and advance to the outskirts of Contalmaison.
At 7.30 am on 1 July the first waves of the 15th Battalion swarmed over their parapets ‘with great heart and in grand form’ and began to advance against the German positions. Almost immediately it became clear that neither the preliminary bombardment, nor four pre-placed mines, had achieved their intended results. The attackers were met with a deadly mixture of artillery and machine-gun fire. They pressed on but soon the long, assaulting lines became mere clusters of survivors. Miraculously the survivors of C Company managed to reach the extreme right of the 15th Battalion’s objective, the German front trench, known as Peake trench, just north of Birch Tree Wood (also known as Peake Wood). They were joined there by survivors of the 16th Battalion as well as soldiers from The Suffolk Regiment, who had been on their left flank. That composite group was the only part of the Division to gain its initial objective. However, in doing so, it found itself dangerously exposed and was forced to withdraw to the vicinity of Wood Alley where, at a strength of around 100, in the overall confusion it seems likely that the Germans were unaware of the tiny pocket of British troops in their midst as no counter-attack was mounted. During the night the force grew in strength as it was joined by other groups which had survived the day’s fighting. Sir George McCrae, Commanding Officer of the 16th Battalion, managed to reach the survivors who then numbered one officer and about 150 men from the 16th, two officers and about 85 men from the 15th and six officers and 60 men from the Lincolns, Suffolks and Northumberland Fusiliers. Additionally the remnants of B Company of the 16th were occupying a trench not far to the rear of Wood Alley. Despite the ferocity of the previous day’s fighting, the troops were in good heart, although they were all thirsty and hungry.
Sir George immediately set about organising the Wood Alley garrison. Food,water and ammunition were carried forward while he made plans to strengthen the position. At about 1 pm the survivors of the 15th Battalion successfully attacked the Germans still holding the Scots Redoubt, capturing 53 prisoners, including three officers. Shortly afterward the survivors of the 16th attacked the Germans occupying a trench known as the ‘Horseshoe’, bombing their way about 150 yards up the trench. At the same time two companies of the 7th East Lancashire Regiment drove the Germans from the strongpoint known as ‘Heligoland’. By the night of 2 July the garrison’s position was much more secure and, importantly, it now had a relatively safe link to the rear. During the night a further 400 reinforcements, drawn from a variety of units, reached the position while carrying parties carried up ample supplies of bombs, water and food, the last including a full supply of hot meat so that all enjoyed a good meal for the first time since the opening of the battle. On 3 July a German counter-attack was beaten off without difficulty and, as a result of having outflanked La Boiselle to the south, that village finally fell to an attack by the 19th Division.
On the evening of 3 July what was left of the 15th and 16th Battalions were relieved and they marched back to Becourt wood. They had been more successful than any other unit in 34 Division yet they had advanced less than two kilometres. The price had been high. The 15th Battalion, who had led the attack, lost 18 officers and 610 soldiers, killed, wounded or missing while the 16th’s figures were 12 officers and 460 soldiers. The losses were such that in the future neither was able to rely solely on recruits from Edinburgh, where both had been raised. For the rest of the war both battalions received drafts from throughout Scotland but, despite that necessity, they retained their special links with Scotland’s capital. For their actions over this period soldiers of the 15th Battalion received immediate awards of a DCM (the RSM) and 7 MMs and three officers received the MC. In the 16th Battalion there were a DCM and three MMs for soldiers and two MCs for officers.”
