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22
battle of loos
The 46th Brigad
e
had mad
e
good progress. Many m
e
n of 7th
King’s Own Scottish Borderers, 10th Cameronians, and 12th
Highland Light Infantry had b
ee
n gassed before l
e
aving
th
e
ir own tr
e
nch
e
s, but by 7.00 a.m. all three battalions
were successfully through the German front lin
e
s. How
e
ver,
the loss
e
s w
e
r
e
h
e
avy.
Privat
e
Thomas Biss
e
t, 12th Highland Light Infantry,
writing from hospital at Shorncliffe,
e
xplained how ‘h
e
was hit on the l
e
ft breast by a bull
e
t, which went through
five rounds of cartridg
e
s, a little gift Testament, and a
not
e
book which he carri
e
d in his pocket, but did him no
injury. The butt of his rifle was also shatt
e
r
e
d, and his
watch smash
e
d’.
28
Private Wilfred Stanley Devey, a young Walsall soldier
serving with the same battalion, described how
‘bullets
were whistling all round... it was awful to see your
comrades falling, some never to rise again’.
29
Scott ish solider writ ing home